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UNiTED STATES OF AMERICA. 








MORNING 
rtiTH/GHTS 



^ A^-N - ^' ! 




^^ 







The Library 
OP Congress 

WASHINGTON 



/ , Copyrighted by Henry Altemus, of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsyl- 
vania, on June ig, i8q7, in the One Hundred and Twenty-first Year 
of the Independence of the United States of America. 



/Z-3Z^tl 



Henry Altemus, Manufacturer, 



PHILADELPHIA. 



^ 

^ 



CONTENTS 











PACK 


Loving Allegiance, ....... 7 


Seeking for his Commandments, 








. 10 


Recognizing his Commandments, . 








• 13 


The Means of Growth, . 








. 16 


Mental Food, . . . . 








. 19 


The Transferred Burden, 








• 23 


The Recall, 








. 26 


The Cc^nditions of Effectual Prayer, 
The Privilege of Intercession, 








• 30 








• 33 


Trusting in Darkness 








• ?>7 


Fear Not, 








' 41 


The Strength-giving Look, 








• 45 


All-sided Guidance, 








4S 


Ruler, because Deliverer,. 








51 


Separation Unto, 








54 


Manifesting the Life of Jesus, 








5S 


The Yoke-destroying Anointing, 








60 


Our Works in God's Hand, . 








64 


The Secret of Fulfilled Desire, 








67 


Taking God at his Word, 








71 


Our Commission, ...'., 








74 


Beholding and Declaring, 








77 


Telling of the Hand of God, 








81 


Telling of the King's Words, 








85 


Evil Speaking, 








^S 


Hindering, ...... 








92 


Strengthening^ Hands, .... 








9S 


Seeking to Excel, 








99 



ii CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



What the Will of the Lord is, . . . . .102 

His Last Commandment, ...... 106 

The Great Reward/ ....... 109 

MORNING MELODIES. 

Consecration Hymn, . . . . . . .117 

Set Apart, . . . 1 18 

The Secret of a Happy Day, 120 

The Unfailing One, . 123 

On the Lord's Side, . . . . . . .125 

True-hearted, Whole-hearted, . « . . . 128 

'' By Thy Cross and Passion,' . . . . .130 

The Opened Fountain, . , . . . , .132 
The Precious Blood of Jesus, ..... 134 

I Remember Thee, ....... 136 

Knowing, ......... 138 

Trusting Jesus, ........ 140 

Looking unto Jesus, ....... 141 

Shining, 143 

Growing, ......... 147 

Resting, ......... 149 

Filling 150 

Increase our Faith, . . . . • . .152 

Nobody Knows but Jesus, . . . . . .154 

He is thy Life, 157 

Enough, 158 

All, 160 

Only, . . .161 

My Master, 163 

Perfect Peace, 165 

I am with Thee, 167 

Trust and Distrust, . 169 

Without Carefulness, .170 

Thy Reign, 175 

Tried, Precious, Sure, < '^'Jl 

Just when Thou Wilt, 178 



MORNING THOUGHTS 

FOR 

THE KING'S SERVANTS 



MORNING THOUGHTS 



FIRST DAY. 



UovinQ aUegiancc. 

* Master ! ' — John xx. i6. 

I THINK this is the very epitome of love. Love 
understands love ; it needs no talk. Sunlight 
needs no paraphernalia of pipes, and wicks, and 
burners ; it just shines out, direct and immediate. 
And the dewdrop flashes it back in the same way. 
The sparkle may be tiny, but it is true and imme- 
diate ; it needs no vehicle. 

^I have called thee by thy name.*^ That was 
quite enough. The powerful sunshine of His love 
was focussed into that white beam of sevenfold 
light, and the whole soul was concentrated into the 
responsive love-flash, ^ Master ! ' 

When that word has truly gone up from the soul 
to Christ, then we have felt what we can never put 
into any other words. It is the single diamond of 
soul- expression,^ and we have cast it at His feet for 
ever. 

He accepts it ; for how wonderfully sweetly falls 
His direct answer, * Ye call Me Master and Lord : 

^ Isa. xliii. x. s Ps. xvi. 3. 



8 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

and ye say well ; for so I am/^ Think of this seal 
of approval being set upon the name we so love to 
give Him. * Ye say well. ' 

He reserves it to Himself, for He says, ^ One is 
your Master, even Christ.'^ It is sacred to Him in 
all its depths of meaning. He has put His hand 
upon our offering, claiming it as only His own f 
and now it can never be another's. 

It includes the whole attitude of soul towards 
our beloved Lord. 

1. Love. — There is a great hush; we have not 
any words at all. We cannot even tell Him we 
love Him, because we are dazzled with a glimpse of 
His love,^ and overwhelmed with our unworthiness 
of it. Our eyes fill, and our bosom heaves. The 
tide has risen too high for verbal prayer or praise ; 
we have to be ' silent in love '^ — the very silence 
being an echo of the eternal depth of calmness of 
the exceeding great love in which He rests. There 
is only one word which does not jar with the still 
music of such a moment, — ' Master ! ' 

2. Adoration. — For the breathing of the name is 
all we can do to express the unexplainable recogni- 
tion of His glory.^ Already He is ' admired in all 
them that believe '^ with the admiration of aston- 
ishment. ^ We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we 
worship Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to 
Thee for Thy great glory.* And yet we only 
uttered the one word, ' Master ! ' 

3. Allegiance. — The true utterance of it is the 

1 John xiii. 13. 2 Matt, xxiii. 8, 10. 3 i Sam. xxv. 35. 

4 2 Sam. I. 26 ; Eph. iii. 19. ^ Zeph. iii. 17, margin. 

« John i. 14. 7 2 Thess. i. 10 (Gr.) 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 



9 



very oath of allegiance. We cannot, must not, 
dare not, will not, henceforth serve ^ two masters,'^ 
nor the still more subtle * many masters.'^ The 
word has been breathed into His heart, and He 
will treasure it there, and keep it for us. It has 
been said, and the sound-waves can never be re- 
called ; they will vibrate through the universe for 
ever. God grant that no traitorous whisper may' 
ever cross them 1 

4. Confidence. — We have found One whom we 
can trust implicitly, and rest upon entirely. We 
have put our lives into His hand. We have burned 
the bridge behind us, because we are quite sure He 
is the Captain of our salvation.^ We have entered 
His service for ever} We have given our allegi- 
ance unreservedly, because we confide in Him 
unreservedly.^ There is no question about it. ^ I 
know whom I have believed,'^ and therefore I say, 
' Master ! ' 

5. Obedience. — All a mockery without this ! 
Not only our lips, but our lives must say, ' Master ! * 
And by His own grace they shall say it ; the name 
shall be emblazoned on every page of our lives. 
For Jesus Himself will ^ make it plain ' upon our 
tablets, so 'that he may run that readeth it.*^ 
This is the test, the fruit, the manifestation of 
love.* But oh, how sweet that we may fearlessly 
say the word which pledges us to it, knowing that 
the Master Himself will enable us to fill it up with 
the practical obedience which, above all things, we 



1 Matt. vi. 24. 2 Jas. iii. i ; Isa. xxvi. 13. 3 Heb. ii. 10. 

< Ex. xxi. 6. 6 I Chron. xii. 18. 6 2 Tim. i. 11. 

f Hab. ii. 3, 8 John xiv. 15 ; 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. 



10 MORNING THOUGHTS, 

want so intensely to yield to Him ! It is like 
throwing our alpenstock up to a higher ledge of 
rock, and then giving ourselves up to the strong 
arm of the guide to draw us up after it. 

Never shall we have to say, like the Amalekite's 
servant, ' My master left me ! '^ He. is our good 
Master,^ our 'own Master'^ and He will reveal to 
His weak servants all that He means in His own 
faithful endorsement of the name* which His Spirit 
has taught us to call Him.^ 

*0 Master, at Thy feet 
I bow in rapture sweet ! 
Before me, as in darkling glass, 
Some glorious outlines pass 
Of love, and truth, and holiness, and power, 
I own them Thine, O Christ, and bless Thee for this hour.' 



SECOND DAY. 



Seeding for Ibis Commanbments. 

* Keep and seek for all the commandments of the Lord your 
God.' — I Chron. xxviii. 8. 

IS not this precept too often halved ? We ac- 
knowledge our obligation to keep, but what 
about seeking for 2^ the commandments of the Lord 
our God ? Are we doing this ? 

1 1 Sam. XXX. 13. 2 Mark x. 17. ^ Pom. xiv. 4. 

* John xiii. 13. 6 i Cor. xii. 3. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. \\ 

* Thy commandment is exceeding broad/ ^and 
our horizon must be continually widening if He is 
making us to go in the path of His commandments.^ 
Even when, by His grace, we have been led to take 
the seven beautiful steps in that path mentioned in 
that grand gush of Bible love, the 119th Psalm, 
believing them,^ learning them, longing for them, 
loving them,* delighting in them, keeping them,* 
and not forgetting them/ there remains yet this 
further step, seeking for all of them. 

Perhaps we have even a little shrinking from this. 
We are afraid of seeing something which might 
be peculiarly hard to keep ; it seems as if it might 
be enough to try to keep what commandments we 
have seen without seeking for still more, and as if 
seeing more to keep would only involve us in 
heavier obligations and in more failures to keep 
them. And we almost wish we had never seen this 
added command, forgetting that shedding of blood 
was needed for sin 'through ignorance.'^ But we 
have seen it, even if we never noticed it before ; it 
is shown us to-day, and we have no alternative but 
obedience or disobedience to it. 

Does not a loving child like to find out what 
its dear father wishes it to do ? does it not feel sorry 
that it did not know all he wished in time to avoid 
doing just the contrary ? How little we must love 
His will if we would rather not know it, lest it 
should clash with our own ! ^ Even to take the 
lowest ground, all His commandments are ' for our 

1 Ps. cxix. 96. 2 Ps. cxix. 35. 3 Ps. cxix, 66. 

^ Ps. cxix. 73, 131, 127. & Ps. cxix. 47, 115. 6 Ps. cxix. 176. 

7 Lev. iv. 27-35. 8 Ps. xl. 8. 



12 MORNING THOUGHTS, 

good,' ^ and ^in keeping of them there is great re- 
ward ; '^ so that we are clearly missing unknown 
good or unknown reward by remaining in ignorance 
of any of them. Nay, more, ^ it is your life * * to 
observe to do all the words of His law. 

We need not fear being left to struggle with newly 
discovered impossibilities ; for, with the light that 
reveals a command, the grace to fulfil it will surely 
be given. It is very humbling when the Spirit's 
light flashes upon some command of our God which 
we have never ^ observed,' much less ^ done ; '* and 
yet it is a very gracious answer to the prayer, ' Teach 
me to do Thy will. ' ^ 

In reading His word, let us steadily set ourselves 
to seek for all His yet unnoticed commandments, 
noting day by day what we find ; and thus knowing 
more of His will, will be a step towards doing more 
of it. Let us not be content with vaguely praying, 
^ Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? ' ^ but set to 
work to see what He has already said^ we are to do, 
and then, * Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.'® 

1 Deut. X. 13. 2 Ps. xix. 11. 3 Deut. xxxii. 47, 

■* Deut. XL 32 ; xv. 5, etc. ^ Ps. cxliii. 10. 6 Acts ix. 6. 

' Hab. ii. i. 8 John ii. 5. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 13 



THIRD DAY. 



'Recognising Ibis (tomman^ment0. 

*And this is His commandment.' — i John iii. 23. 

WE may be quite sure of three things, — first, 
that whatever our Lord commands us, He 
really means us to do ; ^ secondly, that whatever 
He commands us is * for our good always; '^ and, 
thirdly, that whatever He commands us, He is able 
and willing to enable us to do, for *all God^s bid- 
dings are enablings/^ 

But do we practically recognize all His command- 
ments as commandments, and the breach of any 
one of them as sin ?* As we read each precept, let 
us solemnly say to ourselves, ^ This is His command- 
ment ;' and oh, what a touchstone of guilt will it 
be ! How we shall see that what we have been 
excusing as infirmity and natural weakness which 
we could not help, and shortcomings with regard to 
impossible standards, has been all sin, transgression, 
disobedience, needing to be bitterly repented of, 
needing nothing less than blood, the precious 
blood of Christ,^ for atonement and cleansing, 

1 Deut. xii. 32. 3 Dcut. vi. 24. • 2 Cor. ix. 8, xii. 9. 

^ Ps. cxix. 4 ; Jas. ii. xo. ^ Heb. ix. 23. 



14 MORNING THOUGHIS. 

needing nothing short of Omnipotence to strengthen 
us against it. ^ 

Perhaps this is the sad secret of many a mourning 
life among God's children. They are calling sin 
by other names. ^ They think it is only natural 
temperament and infirmity, for which they are to 
claim sympathy, to go on doubting and distrusting 
their Saviour and their God ; yet 'this is His com- 
mandment, That we should believe on the name of 
His Son Jesus Christ,'^ and this, ^ Trust in Him at 
all times.'* They think they are to be tenderly 
pitied for having such a burden to bear, and such 
sadness of heart ; yet this is His commandment, 
* Cast thy burden upon the Lord ; ' ^ and thisy 
^Rejoice in the Lord alway.'^ They do not think 
they can exactly help their hearts being so cold that 
they do not know whether they love Him or not; 
yet this is His commandment, *Thou shalt love the 
Lord thy God with all thy heart. '^ They almost 
feel as if their state were a rather interesting one. 

Yet, oh! dear friend, if the Lord has indeed 
commanded these things, it is a state of disobe- 
dience. If He has said them. He means you to do 
them. Oh, come face to face with His word ; do 
not shrink from the terrible shock of seeing sin 
where you only thought of infirmity. It is by the 
word that He has spoken that you will be judged,* 
not by man's excusing euphemisms. You are com- 
mitting sin in doubting Him ; you are directly 
disobedient in not trusting Him, not casting your 

1 Isa. xl. 29. 2 Heb. xii. 1, 2. ^ i John iii. 23. 

4 Ps. Ixii. 8. 6 Ps. Iv. 22. e Phil. iv. 4. 

' Matt. xxii. 37. 8 John xii. 4B. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



IS 



burden upon Him ; not rejoicing alway in Him ; 
you are a transgressor of His ' first and great com- 
mandment ^^ in not loving Him. *Thou art become 
a transgressor of the law/ ^guilty of all. '^ 

Oh ! if the Holy Spirit flashes the light which He 
only can flash upon these commandments^ and 
shows you the sins which, child of God though you 
are, you have never yet recognized as such, you can- 
not and will not rest in them, if indeed 'the root 
of the matter is found '^ in you. It will wring from 
you an agony cry of 'Lord, have mercy upon me, 
and incline my heart to keep this law,* as He turns 
that terrible and yet merciful light on each. If you 
do not yet 'see it quite so strongly,* ask that 
blessed Spirit to show you, at any cost, what He 
has, sooner or later, to show you. For He will not 
show you the sin without the remedy. And never 
will the precious blood of Christ have been s& 
precious to you as when, after such an entirely start- 
ling revelation of the guilt of your position of dis- 
obedience, you come, despairing of yourself, to the 
Fountain,* and find the cleansing and sanctifying 
and overcoming power of the blood of the Lamb.* 

In that power make haste and delay not to keep 
His commandments,^ and then shall you not be 
ashamed when you have respect unto all His com- 
mandments.' 

1 Matt. xxii. 38, 2 Jas. if. 10, 11, 3 Job xix. 28. 

^ X John i. 9. ^ Rev. xii. >«• * Ps. czix. 6ow 

» Ps. cxU. 6. 



l6 MORNING THOUGHTS. 



FOURTH DAY. 



Z\it flDean0 of (Browtb. 

* Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and 
■Saviour Jesus Christ.' — 2 Pet. iii. i8. 

THE very thing we are longing to do, and 
perhaps mourning over not doing, and perhaps 
praying every day that we may do, and seeming to 
get no answer ! But when God has annexed a means 
to the fulfilment of a command, we cannot expect 
Him to enable us to fulfil that command if we are 
not using His means. In this case the means are 
wrapped in another command: ' Desire the sincere 
milk of the word, that ye may groiu thereby.'^ 

Real desire must prove itself by action ; it is no 
use desiring the milk and not drinking it. ' Where- 
fore criest thou unto Me? speak unto the children 
of Israel, that Xh^y go forward, ^'^ Let us to-day, 
and every day henceforth, *go forward,* and use in 
faith and honest earnestness this His own great 
means of growth. 

By the word we shall 'grow in grace.' The 
beginning of grace in our souls was by the same ; 

1 X Pet. ii. I. 2 Ex. xiv. 15. 



MO R XING THOUGHTS. 



17 



for it is written, ^ Of His own will begat He us 
with the word of truth ;'^ ' Being born again, . . . 
by the word of God.'^ At every step it is the same 
word which developes the spiritual life. The young 
man shall * cleanse his way ' by it. The entrance 
of it giveth light and understanding.^ The result 
of hiding it in our hearts is, that we ' might not sin 
against Thee;'* and how often by His word has He 
^ withheld thee from sinning against Me ! '^ Again 
and again we have said, ' Thy word hath quickened 
me.*^ For it comes to us ^not in word only, but 
in power and in the Holy Ghost, and in much 
assurance.'^ It is *able to make thee wise unto 
salvation/® and its intended effects of reproof, 
correction, instruction in righteousness, rise to what^ 
would seem a climax of growth, ' that the man of 
God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto alt 
good works. '^ And yet there is a still more gloriousf 
result of this ' word of God, which effectually 
worketh also in you that believe i^^ for by * His 
divine power ' ' are given unto us exceeding great 
and precious promises, that by tkese ye might be 
partakers of the divine nature.'" This is indeed 
the climax, for what can rise beyond this most 
marvellous effect of this blessed means of growth 
in grace ! Oh, to use it as He would have us use it, 
so that every day we ' may grow thereby ' ! 

By the word we shall also grow in the knowledge 
of Christ. The mere surface of this is obvious. 

1 Jas. i. 18. 2 I Pet. i. 23. 

3 Ps. cxix. 9; ib. cxix. 130. 4 Ps. cxix, 11. 

* Gen. XX. 6. « Ps. cxix. 50. 7 1 Thess. i. 5. 

« 2 Tim, iii. 15. » 3 Tim. iii. 17. 10 i Thess. ii. 13 

^3 Pet. i. -w ib. i. 4.. 



1 8 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

For how do we come to know more of any one 
whom having not seen, we love?^ is it not by read- 
ing and hearing what he has said and written and 
done ? How are we to know more of Jesus Christ, 
if we are not taking the trouble to know more of 
His word ? 

He hath said, ^ Search the Scriptures ; for . . . 
they are they which testify of Me.'^ Are we really 
searching, or only superficially reading, those Old 
Testament Scriptures of which He spoke? He says 
they testify of Him, i.e, tell us all about Him ; are 
we acting as if we quite believed that ? 

* Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He 
expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the 
things concerning Himself '^ Then there are things 
about Jesus in ^//the Scriptures — not just only in 
the Psalms and Isaiah, but in every book ! How 
very much there must be for us to find ! Let us ask 
the Holy Spirit to take of these things of Jesus and 
show them unto us,* that we may grow in ' the 
knowledge of the Son of God.'^ 

* The words which I speak unto you, they are 
spirit, and they are life '^ — quickening and continu- 
ally life-giving words. We want to be permestied 
with them ; we want them to dwell in us richly,^ to 
be the inspiration of our whole lives, the very music 
of our spirits, whose melodious overflow may be 
glory to God and goodwill to man.^ Jesus Himself 
has given us this quick and powerful word of God, 
and our responsibility is tremendous. He has told 

1 I Pet. i. 8. « John. v. 39. 3 Luke xxiv. 27, 

< John xvi. 15. 6 Eph. iv. 13. • John vL ^ 

7 Col. iii. 16. ^ Luke li. 14. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 1 9 

US distinctly what to do as to it ; He has said, 

* Search ! '^ Now, are we substituting a word of 
our own, and merely reading them ? He did not say, 

* Read them,' but * Search I '^ and it is a most serious 
thought for many a comfortable daily reader of the 
Bible, th?^, if they are only reading and not search- 
ing, they are distinctly living in disobedience to 
on^ of i^is plainest commands. What wonder if 
tb«7 <J<? *X)t * grow thereby ' ! 

Let me then be always growing, 

Never, never standing still, 
Listening, learning, better knowing 

Thee, and Thy most blessed will ; 
That the Master's eye may trace, 
Day by day, my growth in grace. 



FIFTH DAY. 



flDcntal lfoob» 

* Eat ye that which is good.' — IsA. Iv. 2. 

*0 O foolish was I, and ignorant : I was as a beast 
>^ before Thee,'^ or this commandment would 
not have been needed. Good, wholesome, delicious 
food set plentifully before us, and yet we have to be 
told to eat that which is good, and to let rubbish 
and poison alone 1 Is it not humiliating? 

A John V. 39. ^ Isa. xxxiv. 16. * Ps. Ixiii. a% 



20 MORNING THOUGHTS, 

We know too much about feeding on that wTiich 
is not good, and what profit had we in those things 
whereof we are now ashamed?^ The Lord has had 
to testify of us, * He feedeth on ashes, '^ ^ feedeth on 
wind,'^ ^feedeth on foolishness/* Most gracious 
was His decree, * They shall eat, and not have 
enough;'^ ^ Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied.'^ 
He would not let us be satisfied. And now, if we 
have tasted that the Lord is gracious,^ we cannot be 
satisfied with the old ashes and wind. 

But what about our daily practical obedience to 
this command ? How much are we going to eat to- 
day of that which is good, in proportion to that 
which satisfieth not? Will it be a question of 
minutes for the word by which we live,® and hours 
for books which are at best negative as to spiritual 
nutriment ? What is our present obedience to the 
parallel command, ^ Desire the sincere milk of the 
word, that ye may grow thereby ' ?^ What about 
our appetite for the ^strong meat,'^® * the deep 
things of God ' ? " If other books contain * neces- 
sary food *^^ mentally, and we are called to use them, 
so that by study of His works, His providences nat- 
ural, mental, moral, we may be more meet for the 
Master's use,^^ do we practically and consciously 
esteem the words of His mouth more ? Can we say, 
they are ' in my mouth as honey for sweetness' ?^* 

But perhaps we are even purposing to eat that 
which is not good. We may argue that there is no 

1 Rom. vi. 21. 2 Xsa. xliv. 20. s Hos. xii. i. 

4 Prov. XV. 14. 6 Hos. iv. 10. * Mic. vi. 14. 

y I Pet. ii. 3. 8 Matt. iv. 4. « 1 Pet. ii. 2. 

W Heb. V. 12, 14. ^1 I Cor. ii. 10. ^ Jobxxiii, IS. 

»3 Tim. ii. 31. '^^ £zek. iii. g. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 21 

harm in certain readings, and that if we don't read 
what others do we shall get narrow and lose con- 
versational influence, and that people will think 
nothing of our opinion if we can't say we have read 
such and such books, and so forth. But all the 
time, do we not know, down in our heart of hearts, 
that this is all sophistry ? ^ We know, though we 
do not like to acknowledge, that the books in 
question do blunt our spiritual appetite and hinder 
our close communion with Jesus ; that the influence 
we profess to want is not purely desired ' for Jesus' 
sake only,*^ and to be used ' allior Jesus,* — in short, 
we like the reading, and we do not want to resist 
pleasing ourselves.^ And so we deliberately disobey 
the command to eat that which is good, excusing 
ourselves by pretending that we * saw that the tree 
was good for food,'* when the truth was that we 
simply saw that it was ^pleasant.' 

We are solemnly responsible for the mental in- 
fluences under which we place ourselves. * Take 
heed what ye hear '^ must include ' take heed what 
ye read.' * Lead us not into temptation ' is 'vain 
repetition '® when we walk straight away into it, 
hoodwinking our own eyes because we are drawn 
away and enticed by our own desires.^ 

Do we feel that we are not strong enough to re- 
sist? ^ The way of the Lord is strength to the 
upright; '^ and His ' way to escape ' is, * Eat ye 
that which is good.'^ Perhaps if Eve had fully 
availed herself of God's permission, * Thou mayst 

1 Job xili. 7 2 John xii. 9. 3 Rom. xv. 1-3. 

* Gen, iji. 6, 6 Mark iv. 24. « Matt, vi 7, 13. 

'Jasri.1^ 8 Prov. X. 29. ^ i Cor. x. 13. 



22 MORiYING 7'H OUGHTS, 

freely eat,** she would not have been so ready to 
disregard His prohibition. If we ^ eat in plenty'^ 
of ' angels* food/^ of course we shall not care about 
the ' onions and the garlick.'* Just fancy wanting 
them! When we are 'satisfied/ of course, there 
is no craving.^ 

The devii is very fond of persuading us that we 
have ' no leisure so much as to eat '^ when it is a 
question of Bible study. He never says that if we 
have a novel ' of the earth, earthy, '^ or a clever 
magazine of ' modern thought ' on hand ! He 
knows better. He wants us not to * let ' our souls 
delight themselves in fatness. 

Jesus, our Wisdom, says, ' Come, eat of My 
bread ; '^ 'Eat, O friends.'^ One is utterly 
ashamed that it should ever be an effort to obey 
this loving invitation. How weak we are ! But 
His hand touches us, and He says, 'Arise, and eat.'^^ 
May He open our eyes to see and rejoice in the pro- 
vision so close beside us, the feast that He has made 
for us. 

Not only His word, but the happy doing of His 
will " shall be our meat, and we shall ' afterward eat 
of the holy things, because it is His food.'^^ He 
will give us to eat of the tree of life and of the 
hidden manna.^^ And He will give us Himself, the 
living Bread which came down from heaven, saying, 
' He that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me.*^* Is 
not this enough ? 

1 Gen. ii, i6. 2 Joel ii. 26. 2 Ps. Ixxviii. 25. 

4 Num. xi. 5. 5 Jer. xxxi. 14. 6 Mark vi. 31. 

7 I Cor. XV. 47. 8 Prov. ix. 5. 9 Cant. v. i. 

10 I Kings xix. 5. 11 John iv. 34. 12 j^y. xjtii. 7. 

^ Rev. ii. 7, 17. 14 John vi. 51, 57. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 23 



SIXTH DAY. 



Vciz tlransferreb 36urben» 

* If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine 
away in them, how should we then live? ' — Ezek. xxxiii. lo. 

IF they are upon us, how can we live? For 
^rnine iniquities are . . . as an heavy burden, 
they are too heavy for me.'^ ^ The burden of them 
is intolerable.' It is not the sense, but the burden 
itself which cannot be borne ; no one could bear 
his own iniquities without being sunk lower and 
lower, and at last to hell by it. It is only not felt 
when the very elasticity of sin within us keeps us 
from feeling the weight of the sin upon us ; as the 
very air in our bodies prevents our feeling the 
otherwise crushing weight of the atmosphere with 
its tons upon every inch. Or (thank God for the 
alternative !) when the whole burden, our abso- 
lutely intolerable burden, is known to be laid upon 
another. 

If this burden is upon us, we cannot walk in 
newness of life,^ we cannot run in the way of His 
commandments,^ we cannot arise and shine.* The 

1 Ps. xxxviii. 4. 2 Rom. vi. 4. 

s Ps. cxix. 32. 4 isa. ix. X. 



24 



MORNIXG THOUGHTS. 



burden is ' too heavy ' for these manifestations of 
life ; we do but ^ pine away * in our sins, whether 
consciously or unconsciously ; and the sentence is 
upon us, They shall * consume away for their in- 
iquity.'^ For there is no curse so terrible and far- 
reaching as, ^ He shall bear his iniquity.'^ 

^ If ! * but is it ? It is written, ' The Lord hath 
laid on Him the iniquity of us all/^ On Jesus it 
has been laid, on Him who alone could bear the 
intolerable burden ;* therefore it is not upon His 
justified ones who accept Him as their sinbearer. 

This burden is never divided. He took it ally 
every item, every detail of it. The scapegoat bore 
*upon him all their iniquities.'^ Think of every 
separate sin, each that has weighed down our con- 
science, every separate transgression of our most 
careless moments, added to the unknown weight of 
all the unknown or forgotten sins of our whole life^ 
and all this laid on Jesus instead of upon us ! The 
sins of a day are often a burden indeed, but we are 
told in another type, ^ I have laid upon thee the 
years of their iniquity.'® Think of the years of 
our iniquity being upon Jesus ! Multiply this by 
the unknown but equally intolerable sin-burdens of 
all His people, and remember that * the Lord hath 
laid on Him the iniquity of us ^//,'^ and then think 
what the strength of His enduring love must be 
which thus bare * the sins oimany.''^ 

Think of His bearing them ^ in His own body 
on the tree,'^ in that flesh and blood of which He 

1 Ezek. iv. 17. 2 Lev. v. 17. « Isa. liii. 6. 

< Isa. liii, II. 6 Lev, xvi. 22. ^ Ezek. iv, 5. 

» Isa. liii. 6. « Heb. ix. 28. « i Pet, ii. 24. 



MORXIXG THO UGHTS, 



25 



took part, with all its sensitiveness and weakness, 
because He would be made like unto His brethren 
in all things;^ and that this bearing was entirely 
suffering (for He ' suffered for sins '^), and praise 
the love which has not left ^ our sins . . . upon us.' 

We cannot lay them upon Him ; Jehovah has 
done that already, and ' His work is perfect : '^ 
'nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from 
it.'* 'Tlie Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of 
us all ; '^ 'He hath done this.'^ We have only to 
look np and see our Great High Priest bearing the 
iniquity of our holy things for us j"^ to put it still 
more simply, we have only to believe that the Lord 
has really done what He says He has done.^ 

Can we doubt the Father's love to us, when we 
think what it must have cost Him to lay that crush- 
ing weight on His dear Son, sparing Him not,* 
that He might spare us instead ?^^ The Son accepted 
the awful burden, but it was the Father's hand 
which Maid it upon ' Him.^^ It was death to Him, 
that there might be life to us. For ' if our trans- 
gressions and our sins ' were upon us, there could 
be no answer to the question, ' How should we 
then live ? ' for we could only * pine away in them ' 
and die. * Ye shall die in your sins.'^'* But being 
Maid on Him,'^^ how shall we no7v live? ' He died 
for all, that they which live should not henceforth 
live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for 
them and rose again. '^* Unto Him,^^ by Him,^* 

1 Heb. ii. 14, 17. 2 i Pet. iii. 18. 3 Dent, xxxii. 4. 

* Eccles. iii. 14. 5 [sa. liii. 6. 6 Ps. xxii. 31. 

^ Ex. xxviii. 38. 8 Jsa. xliv. 23. ^ Rom. viii. 32. 

10 Mai. iii. 17. " i Pet. ii. 24. 12 John viii. 24. 

"2 Cor. V. IS. 14 Rom. xiv. 8. is Gal. ii. 20. w Phil. i. 9t« 



26 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

in Him/ for Him, now; and with Him,^ where He 
is, for ever and ever ! 

On Thee, the Lord 

My mighty sins hath laid ; 
And against Thee Jehovah's sword 

Flashed forth its fiery blade. 
The stroke of justice fell on Thee, 
That it might never fall on me. 



SEVENTH DAY. 



tTbe IRecall. 

*0 Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast 
ftillen by thine iniquity.' — Hos. xiv. i. 

THANK God that He does not let His children 
go on comfortably when they wander and 
fall ? 

Have we not known (God grant we may never 
again know!) a wretched mental nausea, a sense of 
discomfort and restlessness, a misgiving that some- 
thing is wrong, though we can't say what? no 
actual pain, no acute attack of anything, but a 
nameless uncomfortableness, most easily described 
by a negative, that we are not ^ as in months past.'* 

°If this is the present state of any reader, do let 

1 John xvii. 24. 2 1 Thess. iv. 17. 8 Hos. ii. 6. 

S Job xxix. 2. ^ Job XV. 11, 12. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



27 



me most earnestly and affectionately entreat you 
not to remain one day — no, not one hour — in this 
most dangerous state, the beginning of back-slid- 
ing, and already a ^all from your * own steadfastness' 
and your * first love.'^ ^Remember from whence 
thou art fallen ; '^ look unflinchingly at your posi- 
tion, and recognize frankly the difference between 
to-day, and the past days of closer walking and 
happy abiding. Do not let yourself drift on, or 
you 'will revolt more and more' till Hhe whole 
head is sick, and the whole heart faint/' Every 
day's delay will make your case worse. 

Do not shrink from asking Him to show you how 
and why it is that you have fallen. The ' beautiful 
crown '* which He put ' upon thine head ' in * the 
time of love,'^ would not have ^fallen from our 
head,' but 'that we have sinned.'® It is *by thine 
iniquity' that ' thou art fallen,'*^ — iniquity persona] 
and real, though very likely unguessed by any one, 
and hidden even from thine own eyes. 

Perhaps the knowledge of this is already sent ; if 
so, listen ! ' And I said, after she had done all 
these things. Turn thou unto me.'^ And again, 
though you may have gone after other ' lovers,' 'yet 
return again to me, saith the Lord.'^ Oh forsake 
the thoughts as well as the way, and return unto 
the Lord, and he will abundantly pardon. ^° For 
when 'He showeth them their work and their 
transgressions,' He also ' commandeth that they 
return from iniquity.'" 

1 2 Pet. iii. 17. 2 Rev. ii. 4, 5. 8 Isa. i. 5. 

< Ezek. xvi. 12. 6 Ezek. xvi. 8. 6 Lam. v. 16. 

'^ Hos. xiv. I. 8 Jer. iii. 7. • Jcr. iii. z. 

io Isa. Iv. 7, 11 Job XXX vi. 9, 10. 



28 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

And why ? Five infinitely gracious reasons are 
given. 'Return! . . ,for thou hast fallen by 
thine iniquity ; '^ the very thing which seemed the 
barrier to return ! * Return ! . . , for I am merci- 
ful, saith the Lord.'^ 'Return! . . .for I have 
redeemed thee.'^ 'Return!, . , for the Lord 
hath dealt bountifully with thee.'* ' Come, and let 
us return unto the Lord : for He hath torn, and He 
will heal us. '^ All these gracious words for you! 
and the Lord Himself waiting that He may be 
gracious 1^ Will you keep Him waiting till a more 
' convenient season ' ?^ 

To whom are you called to return ? Ah ! think 
of that — not to a state or position merely ; not 
only 'to thy rest,'^ but to 'the Lord thy God,'* 
thy God, ' our own God ; '^^ to Him who has 
betrothed you unto Him for ever;^^ to Him who 
chose you unto Himself to be His peculiar 
treasure ;^^ to Him who remembers better than you 
do from whence you have fallen. Hear Him say- 
ing, ' I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, 
the love of thine espousals. '^^ ' How shall I give 
thee up ? '^* What pathetic yearning this is over 
you, even you ! Will you not say, ' I will go and 
return to my first husband ; for then was it better 
with me than now.'^^ 

Is intention enough in this matter ? Listen again 
to the arousing words of your Lord, ' If thou wilt 
return, . . . saith the Lord, return unto Me j '^® 

1 Hos. xiv. I. 2 Jer. iii. 12. 3 Isa. xliv. 22. 

4 Ps. cxvi. 7. 5 Hos. vi. i. 6 Isa. xxx. 18. 

7 Acts xxiv. 25. 8 Ps. cxvi. 7. 9 Hos, xiv. i. 

10 Ps. Ixvii. 6. 11 Hos. ii. 19. 12 Ps. cxxxv. 4* 

M Jer. ii. a. " Hos. xi. 8. 15 Hos. ii. 7. !• Jer iv. i. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 



29 



in other words, ' Now, then, do it.'* Stay no more 
at being willing to return, but ' Return ye NOW !'^ 
It will be harder to-morrow — nay, harder an hour 
hence than now. He who first caused you to 
approach,^ will cause you to return ;* so you shall 
not be left unaided, for ' In Me is thine help '^ even 
for returning from self-destruction.^ 

And then — oh, what wealth of promises to the 
returning one ! what robes and rings and heavenly 
music !^ ' If thou return, . . . thou shalt be built 
up, thou shalt put away iniquity . . . ; then shalt 
thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt 
lift up thy face unto God.® . . . He shall hear 
thee, . . . Thou shalt decree a thing, and it shdl 
be established unto thee : the light shall shine upon 
thy ways.' For He hath said, *I will heal tli*cir 
backsliding, I will love them freely.' ^ 

Return ! 
O fallen ; yet not lost ! 
Canst thou forget the life for thee laid down, 
The taunts, the scourging, and the thorny crown ? 
When o'er thee first my spotless robe I spread 
And poured the oil of joy upon thy head, 
How did thy wakening heart within thee burn ! 
Canst thou remember all, and wilt thou not return '^ 



1 2 Sam. iii. 18. 2 Jer. xviii. 11. 3 Ps. Ixv. 4. 

* Jer. XXX. 3. 6H0S. xiii.p. C Lam. T ai- 

* Luke XY, 22, SS* 8 Job xxii, '23-28. • Hos. xiv. 4, 



30 MORNING THOUGHTS. 



EIGHTH DAY. 



tTbe ConMtions of letfectual pra^n 

'And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, 
ye shall receive.' — Matt. xxi. 22. 

HAVE we not sometimes been tempted to think 
that here, at least, is a case in which our Lord 
has not literally and always kept His word? in which 
we do not get quite so much as the plain English 
of the promise might lead us to expect? If so, well 
may He say to us, ' Do ye not therefore err, because 
ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of 
God ? ' ^ If we had known the Scriptures by search- 
ing, we might have known more of the power of 
God by experience in this matter. For this is no 
unconditional promise; this marvellous * whatso- 
ever' depends upon five great conditions; and, if 
we honestly examine, we shall find that every case 
of seeming failure in the promise can be accounted 
for by our own failure in one or more of these. 

I. 'Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name^ that 
will I do.*^ Really, not verbally only, in the nam« 
of Jesus ; asking not in our own name at all ; sign- 

I Mark xii. 24. ^ John xiv. 13 ; ib. xiv. 6. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



31 



ing our petition, as it were, with His name only ;^ 
coming to the Father by our Advocate, our Repre- 
sentative.^ Do we always ask thus? 

2. 'Believing, ye shall receive/' The faith- 
heroes of old * through faith . . . obtained prom- 
ises,'* and there is no new way of obtaining them. 
Is it any wonder that, when we stagger at any 
promise of God through unbelief,^ we do not receive 
it ? Not that the faith merits the answer, or in any 
way earns it or works it out, but God has made 
believing a condition of receiving, and the Giver 
has a sovereign right to choose His own terms of 
gift. 

3. 'If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in 
you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done 
unto you.'® Ah! here is a deeper secret of asking 
and not having, because we ask amiss.^ Not, have 
we come to Christ? but, are we abiding in Him? — 
not, do we hear His words? but, are they abiding 
in us? Can we put in this claim to the glorious 
* whatsoever'? And, if not, why not? for 'this is 
His commandment,' * Abide in Me.'® And this 
leads us to see the root of our failure in another 
condition, for, — 

4. 'Whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, 
because we keep His commandments^ and do those 
things that are pleasing in His sight. ^^ Only as we 
are abiding in Him can we bring forth the fruit of 
obedience, for without (/. e. apart from) Him we 
can do nothing ;^° only in walking by faith can we 

1 Phil. ii. 10 (Gr.) 2 i John ii. i. 3 Matt. xxi. 2a. 

* Heb. xi. 33. 5 Rom. iv. 20. ^ John xv. 7. 
^ Jas. iv. 3. 8 John xv. 4, 

• z John iii. 22 ; Ps. Ixvi. 18. 10 John xr. 4. 



32 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



do those things that are pleasing in His sight,^ for 
without faith it is impossible to please Him.^ 

5. ' If we ask anything according to His will, He 
heareth us.'^ When what we ask is founded on a 
promise or any written evidence of what the will of 
the Lord is,* this is comfortingly clear. But what 
about petitions which may or may not be according 
to His will? Surely, then, the condition can only 
be fulfilled by a complete blending of our own will 
with His ; ^ by His so taking our will, so undertaking 
it and influencing it for us, that we are led to desire 
and ask the very thing He is purposing to give. 
Then, of course, our prayer is answered ; and the 
very pressure of spirit to pray becomes the pledge 
and earnest of the answer, for it is the working of 
His will in us. 

Two comforting thoughts arise. 

First, the very consciousness of our failure in 
these great conditions shows us the wonderful kind- 
ness and mercy of our King, who has answered so 
many a prayer in spite of it, according to His own 
heart, and not according to our fulfilment, giving 
us *of His royal bounty*^ that to which we had 
forfeited all shadow of claim. 

Secondly, that He who knoweth our frame'' 
knows also the possibilities of His grace, and would 
never tantalize us by offering magnificent gifts on 
impossible conditions. * Will he give him a stone ? '® 
Would an earthly parent? Would ^^^.^ Therefore 
the very annexing of these intrinsically most blessed 

1 2 Cor. V. 7. 2 Heb. xi. 6. 81 John v. 14. 

< Eph. V. 17. ^ 6 Phil. ii. 13. « 1 Kings x. 13. 

' Ps. ciii. 14; Phil. iv. 13. 8 Luke xi. 11, 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 33 

conditions implies that His grace is sufficient^ for 
their fulfilment, and should lure us on to a blessed 
life of faith, abiding in Jesus, ^ walking in obedience 
*unto all pleasing,'^ and a will possessed by His 
own divine will. 

Thou art coming to a King, 
Large petitions with thee bring ; 
For His grace and power are such, 
None can ever ask too much. 

Nkwton. 



NINTH DAY. 



^be iprivileae of Ifnterceesfon. 

* Pray one for another.' — ^J-AS. v. i6. 

HERE our divine Master takes up an impulse of 
natural affection,* raising it to the dignity of a 
^ royal commandment,'^ and broadening it to the 
measure of His own perpetual intercession.^ For, 
unless a heart has reached the terrible hardening of 
being 'without natural affection' ^ as well as 'with- 
out God,' ^ it must want to pray for those it loves. 
The Lord would sanctify and enlarge this impulse, 
making it ' full of the blessing of the Lord.' ^ It is 
a plant which He hath planted in the human heart, 

^ 2 Cor. xii. 9. 2 I John ii. 27. 3 (jol. i. 10. 

< Esther i. 19. 6 i Tim. ii. i. « Hcb. vii. 25. 

' Rom. i. 31. 9 £ph. ii. za. * Dcut. xxxiii. 2^ 



24 MORNING TH OUGHTS. 

and therefore it shall not be rooted up, but He will 
water and increase it. ^ What are the indications 
of His will in the matter, and how far are we 
following them out ? 

First, are we asking for each other the special 
thing annexed to the command ? ' That ye may be 
healed/ ^ Prayer for physical healing is clearly in- 
cluded.^ How many around us are not spiritually 
healed ! are we definitely asking this for them? Of 
how many of His own people is the Lord saying, 
* They knew not that I healed them ! ' * Not ' know- 
ing what was done in ' them,^ they are not witnessmg 
to the power of the Healer ; not seeing, like the 
Samaritan, that they were healed, they are not 
giving Him thanks.^ Are we asking that they may 
realize the healing, so that they may glorify the 
Healer?^ 

We maybe greatly ^ helping together by prayer/ * 
by agreement in intercession.^ The very fact of 
having ^ agreed ^^^ is a great stimulus and reminder. 
It is the Lord's own indicated way. ' Two of you. '^* 
It took two to hold up Moses' hands steadily. ^^ 
When he let down one hand, Amalek prevailed. So 
Aaron and Hur were both wanted. ^^ 

Intercession should be definite and detailed. 
Vagueness is lifelessness. St. Paul besought the 
Romans to pray for him, and then told them exactly 
what he wanted, four definite petitions to be pre- 
sented for him.^* It is a help to reality of inter- 

1 Matt. XV. 13. 2 Jas. v. 16. 3 Gen. xx. 17. 

4 Hos. xi. 3. 6 Mark v. 29, 33. ^ Luke xvii. 15. 

7 Ps. ciii. 1-3. 8 2 Cor. i. 11. ^ Dan. ii. 17, iS. 

M Esther iv. 16. 11 Matt, xviii. 19. 18 Jlcclcs. iv. 9t 

1* £x. xrii. 11, zs. ^^ Rom. xv. 30, 32. 



MORNIiXG THO UGHTS. 



35 



cession when ministers or other workers who ask our 
prayers will tell us exactly what they want. General 
prayers for * blessing' are apt to become formal. 

We must not yield to the idea that, because we 
are feeble members, doing no great work, our prayers 
* won't make much difference.'^ It may be that 
this is the very reason why the Lord keeps us in the 
shade, because He hath need of us^ (though we 
feel no better than an * ass's colt ' ^) for the work oi 
intercession. Many of us only learn to realize the 
privilege of being called to this by being called 
apart from all other w^ork. When this is the case, 
let us simply and faithfully do it, * lifting up holy 
hands, without wrath and doubting,'* blessing His 
name who provides this holy and beautiful service 
for those who ' by night stand in the house of the 
Lord!^ See how wonderfully St. Paul valued the 
prayers of others. He distinctly expresses this to 
every Church but one to whom he wrote. Would 
he have asked their prayers so fervently if he thought 
it would not * make much difference ' ? 

Intercession is a wonderful help to forgiveness of 
injuries. See how the personal unkindness of 
brother and sister stirred up Moses to pray for each ; ® 
and how repeatedly the wrong feeling, speaking, and 
acting of the people against himself was made the 
occasion of prayer for them.^ Let us avail our- 
selves of this secret of his meekness. Also it is an 
immense help to love. Do we not find that the 
more we pray for any one, the more we love ? 

1 I Cor. xii. 22. 2 Mark xi. 2, 3. 8 Job xi. is. 

* 1 Tim. ii. 8. ^ Ps. cxxxiv. i. 

• Num. xii. 2, 13; Deut. ix. 18-20. 

' Num. xiv. a, 19 ; ib. xvi. 19, 22 ; ib. xii. j. 



3 6 MORNING THO UGHTS, 

Let us intercede ^ while we have time.'* 'The 
night Cometh, when no man can work.'^ Those 
for whom we might be praying to-day may be be- 
yond the reach of prayer to-morrow. Or our own 
day of prayer may have passed ; for the only in- 
tercession that we have ever heard from the other 
side was in vain — never granted.' 

It is considerable practical help if we make our 
intercession systematic, especially if the Lord gives 
us many to pray for. If every day has its written 
list of special names to be remembered, we shall be 
less likely to forget or drop them. Each several 
name was engraved on the breastplate of the high- 
priest, that it might be borne upon his heart con- 
tinually.* 

See the two-fold rewards of intercessory prayer. 

First y blessing for others : 

* He shall ask, and He shall give him life for 
them that sin not unto death. ' ^ Compare St. PauFs 
prayers for the Thessalonians, in his First Epistle, 
with the exact and abounding answers for which he 
gives thanks in the Second, after a very short inter- 
val. 

Secondly y blessing for ourselves : 

' The Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he 
prayed for his friends. * ^ Something very like a 
turning of our captivity is granted ^ when, amid 
oppression and darkness, we pray for our friends. 
Often it is like a leap into the free sunshine. * Pray 
unto the Lord for it ' (the city whither they were 

1 Gal. vi. lo (old translation). 2 John ix. 4. 3 Luke xvii. 27-31, 
< Ex. xxviii. 21, 29. 6 I John v. 16. • Job. xlii «o. 

' Ps. cxxvi. 1-3. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 37 

carried away), ^ for in the peace thereof shall ye 
have peace.' ^ Specially true is it in this, that ' he 
that watereth shall be watered also himself.' ' 

* O Saviour Christ, their woes dispel ; 

For some are sick, and some are sad, 
And some have never loved Thee well, 

And some have lost the love they had. 

And some are pressed with worldly care, 
And some are tired with sinful doubt, 

And some such grievous passions tear 
That only thou canst cast them out. 

And some have found the world is vain. 

Yet from the world they break not free ; 
And some have friends that give them pain, 
. Yet have not sought a friend in Thee.* 

Henry Twklls. 



TENTH DAY. 



ZTrueting in Darkness. 

* Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the 
▼oice of His servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no 
light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay himself 
upon His God.' — IsA. 1. 10. 

BEFORE we take this peace and strength-giving 
precept, with itsenfolded promise, to ourselves, 
let us examine ourselves as to the conditions : fear 

1 Jer. xxix. 7. 2 Prov. xi. 25. 



38 MORNING THOUGHTS, 

of the Lord, and obedience to the voice of His 
servant. They are very clear. If we are not 
casting off fear ; ^ if we have this ^beginning of 
wisdom/^ this perhaps not sufficiently recognized 
* treasure/ ^ the fear of the Lord;* and if we have 
sincerity of purpose about obeying the voice of His 
servant,^ and are not persisting in some known and 
wilful disobedience/ which causes a different kind 
of darkness, the darkness that blindeth our eyes/ 
then we are called to listen to all the comfort of 
this commandment. 

* Let him trust in the name of the Lord.' What 
name? ^ The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and 
gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness 
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving 
iniquity and transgression and sin.* ^ What name? 
< Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the 
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.* ^ What 
name? Just this, JESUS P^ But how can we trust 
in what we do not much consider ?" Trust needs 
a very broad and strong foundation for its repose ; 
it cannot poise itself on an inverted pyramid. But 
if we walk about that foundation, and go round 
about it, and mark well the bulwarks,^^ we shall put 
ourselves in the way of realizing what reason we 
have to trust. ^^ 

Is it dark now, dear friend ? Will you, as a little 
child, simply do what I ask you this morning ? 
Take this Name of the Lord,^* in all its varied ful- 



1 Job XV. 4. 8 Ps. cxi. 10. 3 isa. xxxiii. 6. 

^ Ps. cxix. 69, 5 Josh. xxiv. 24. 6 John iii. 20. 

' I John ii. II. 8 Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7. ^ Isa. ix. 6. 

10 Matt, i, 21. n Ps. ix. 10; ib. cxix. 55. 

IS Ps. xlviii. X2, 13. 1* Prov. xviii. 10. i^ Ps. xx. 7. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 39 

ness, *shut thy door/^ and kneel down without 
hurry. Then, asking first the Spirit's promised 
help/ pray over every separate part of it as so beau- 
tifully revealed for our comfort. And as you take 
up each word in petition, tell the Lord that you 
willy you do trust that, even though you cannot see 
or feel all the preciousness of it.^ 

Trusting in the name of the Lord, the Triune 
Jehovah — Father, Saviour, Comforter — will lead 
you on, not perhaps to any great radiance of light 
as yet, but to staying upon your God ; for mark 
the added pronoun, first only 'the Lord,' then 'his 
God.' Both the trusting and staying may be at 
first in the dark, but they will not be always in the 
dark. He that believeth on Him shall not abide in 
darkness. * Unto him ' there ariseth light in the 
darkness.'^ But the promises are progressive: we 
must follow the light as soon as we see it, for ^he 
that followeth me shall not walk in darkness.'^ 

But, meanwhile, even the trusting and staying 
shall be blessed, for ' blessed are they that have not 
seen, and yet have believed.' ^ ' Blessed are all they 
that put their trust in Him ; ' ® and * all ' of course 
includes you. There may be very much unconscious 
blessing apart from sensible light and joy.^ The 
visible, light-bearing rays of the spectrum are not 
the whole beam. It is not they which make the 
plant grow ; it is the dark rays with their mysterious, 
unseen vibrations that bring heat and chemical 
power. 

1 Matt. vi. 6. 2 Rom. viii. 26; Zech, xii. 10. 

* Isa. xii. 2 ; Ps. xci. 2 ; xxxi, i ; Cant. i. 3. ^ John xii. 46. 
' Ps. cxil. 4. * J°^'^ v"^' ^2. ' John xx. 39. 

• 2%, ii. 18. 9 Ps. xxiii. 4' 



40 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

The first conscious blessing is not linked with 
even the trust, but with the ' staying ' ^ which grows 
out of it. ' Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, 
whose mind is stayed on Thee : because he trusteth 
in Thee/^ Then, again, the staying, and the cer- 
tainly resulting, because absolutely promised, peace 
lead on to fuller and more settled trust : ' Trust ye 
in the Lord for ever.'^ 

How we do love a little child that nestles up to 
us from its cot in a dark room, and kisses the hand 
that it cannot see, and pours out all sorts of little 
confidences which it did not tell in the broad day- 
light ! Do we not fondle it with a special gush of 
affection ? However much we loved the little thing 
before, we think we love it more than ever ! When 
the Father's little children come to Him in the 
dark, and simply believe His assurance that He is 
there, although they cannot see,* will He be less 
loving, less kind and tender ? 

* I cannot hear Thy voice, Lord, 
But Thou dost hear my cry ; 
I cling to thine assurance 

That Thou art ever nigh. 
I know that Thou art faithful ; 

I trust, but cannot see 
That it is still the right way 
By which Thou leadest me.' 
\ . ^ 

* Jer. xvii. 7. 2 isa. xxvi. 3. ^ Isa. xxvi. 4. 

< John XX. 29; Ps. xxxiii. 2z. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. ai 



ELEVENTH DAY. 



jfear mot. 

* Fear not.' — Luke xii. 32, etc. 

THERE need be no difficulty in distinguishing 
between the holy and blessed ^ fear of the 
Lord/ ^ which is our ^ treasure/ and which is only 
as the sacred shadow cast by the brightest light of 
love and joy, and the fear which Vhath torment/* 
and is cast out by perfect love and simple trust. 

* Fear Him, ye saints, and you will then 
Have nothing else to fear ! ' 

precisely expresses the distinction. 

But it is a very solemn thought how * verily 
guilty* ' we are as to this most absolute command 
of our King, reiterated by messengers angelic and 
human, and by His own personal voice, perhaps 
more often than any other. No wonder that we are 
left to suffer the fruit of our own thoughts when we 
do not even sec our disobedience, much less cease 
from it. ' Fear NOT.' There is no qualification, 
no exception, no modification ; it is as plain a com- 

1 Isa. xxxiii. 6; Acts ix. 31. 2 x John iv. 18. 

* Gen. xlii. 21. 



42 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

mand as, ' Thou shalt not steal.' ^ What excuse 
have we for daring to regard it as a less transgression, 
or even no transgression at all? If the heinousness 
of a crime might, to human judgment, be measured 
by its penalty, what must the true heinousness of 
this everyday sin be when God hath said, ^ The^Jf^r- 
/^/^/ shall have their part in the lake which burneth 
with fire and brimstone ! ' ^ 

Why should what seems only a natural infirmity 
be catalogued with the blackest sins ? Because, if 
we honestly examine it, it is always and only the 
fruit of not really believing God's words, not really 
trusting His love and wisdom and power. It is a 
bold, ' Yea, hath God said? ' ^ to His abundant and 
infinitely gracious promises ; it is a tacit denial that 
He is what He is ! Only let us sincerely and thor- 
oughly trace down every fear to its root, and we 
shall (if the Holy Spirit guide our search *) be con- 
vinced of its sinfulness, and ^ by the commandment ' 
it will * become exceeding sinful.'^ ^ Let Thy judg- 
ments help ' us, O Lord,^ in this matter. 

But now for the brighter side ! Would our King 
tell us again and again, * Fear not ! ' if there were 
any reason at all to fear? Would He say this kind 
word again and again, ringing changes as of the 
bells of heaven upon it, only to mock us, if He 
knew all the time that we could not possibly help 
fearing ? Only give half an hour to seeking out the 
reasons He gives why we are not to fear, and the 
all-inclusive circumstances in which He says we are 

1 Ex. XX. 15. 2 Rev. xxi. 8. 

3 Gen. iii. 10; Luke xix. 21 ; 2 Sam. vi. 8, 9. "* John xvi. 8, 9. 
* Rom. vii. 13. 6 Ps. cxix. 175. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 43 

not to fear; see how we are to fear nothing, 
and no one, and never, and nowhere ; see 
how He Himself is in every case the foundation 
and the grand reason of His command, His presence 
and His power always behind it; and then shall we 
hesitate to say, ' I will fear no evil ; for Thou art 
with me ' ? ^ Shall we even fancy there is any answer 
to those grand and forever unanswered questions, 
^ The Lord is my light and my salvation; wliom 
shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life ; of 
whom shall I be afraid? * ^ 

There is a ' Fear not ' for every possible case and 
kind of fear ; so that we have never any answer to 
give when He asks, * Why are ye fearful ? ' ^ but we 
are * without excuse/* It is part of His ^ holy 
covenant * that we should ^ serve Him without fear.'* 
It is one of His ^precious promises' that * thou 
shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear.' ^ It is one of 
the blessed results of His reign that His flock * shall 
fear no more.' ^ It is no impossible thing, but the 
simple and natural consequence of really seeking 
and really trusting the Lord, that He will deliver 
us not from some, but from * alV our fears. ^ He 
did this for David, will He be less kind to you and 
me? 

The Lord Jesus gives a very tender and gentle 
expression of the same command when He says, 
* Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be 
afraid.' ^ Ah ! we too often let our hearts be afraid : 

* Isa. xH. 10, xHii. 1-5; Matt. x. 28; Lam. iii. 57; Rev. i. 17; ib. 
li. 10; Isa. li. 12, 13 ; Gen. XV. I ; Matt. xiv. 27; Isa.xxxv. 4 ; Ps. xxiii.4, 

2 Ps. xxvii. I. 3 Matt. viii. 26. "* Rom. i. 20. 

6 Luke i. 74. 6 Job xi, 15, ^ Jer. xxiii. 4. 

• P». xxxiv. 4; Hcb. xiii. 8, ^John xiv. 27, 



44 MORNING THOUGHTS, 

we yield without even a parley; a fear arises, and 
we do not recognize it as an enemy of our King, 
we just let it enter and sit down, instead of un- 
sheathing the sword of the Spirit and attacking it in 
the power of His might, and in the Name that al- 
ways conquers. No matter how powerless we feel 
about it, strength comes with determination to 
obey.^ Let us say this morning, now, ' I will 
trust and not be afraid ; ' ^ and then let us ^ say to 
them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not ; 
. . . He will come and save you.'^ 

Is God for me? I fear not, though all against me rise ! 
When I call on Christ my Saviour, the host of evil liies. 
My Friend, the Lord Almighty, and He who loves me — God ! 
What enemy shall harm me, though coming as a flood ? 

Paul Gerhardt. 

1 Eph. vi. 17; ib. vi. 10; Ps. xliv, 5; Luke x. 17; Mark iii. 5. 
3 Isa. xii. 3. * Isa. xxxT. 4. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 4- 



TWELFTH DAY. 



^be StrenGtb^giving Xooft» 

* And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy 
might.' — ^Judges vi. 14. 

FOR the might of a look of the Lord is enough 
for anything ! Only, we must meet His look ; 
our eyes must be ever toward the Lord,^ and then 
we shall not miss it : for He says, ^ I will set Mine 
eyes upon them for good/ ^ So, if we are indeed 
His people, we can never look up to Him without 
His look of grace and goodness and guidance 
meeting ours. 

It will not trouble us as it ' troubled the Egyp- 
tians ' * when that mysterious look of the Lord fell 
upon them ^ through the pillar of fire and of the 
cloud ; ' that look of judgment is not for His Israel. 

Yet for them there is the solemn look of searching^ 
when He ^ looketh on the heart.'* 

For them, too, the look of expectation, when He 
comes to His vineyard and looks * that it should 
bring forth grapes; '^ when He comes to * see if 
the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear/ 

* Ps. XXV. 15. 2 jer. xxiv. 6. * Ex. xiv. 24. 

* X Sam. xvi. 7. ^ I»a. v. 2. 



46 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

with the beautiful promise in His hand, * There will 
I give thee My loves. ' ^ 

For them the unspeakable power and tenderness 
of His look of recall.'^ One who, after denial of the 
faith, had felt the might of that look, said to a lad 
who stood awed by the manly tears : ' Ah, Willie, 
it's forgiven sin that breaks a man's heart ! ' How 
many a wanderer has been called back even by the 
record that * the Lord turned, and looked upon 
Peter.' 

Then the look of healing and help. ^ Have we as 
simple faith as the father who besought Jesus to look 
upon his only son, as if even a look from the dimly 
recognized Master should be enough ?* And so it 
was! the ^ word only/ the touch, the look, were 
enough for health and cure in cases to which this 
was a terrible climax.^ 

Then the look of blessing and love, ^ Look down 
. . .and bless Thy people,'^ prayed Moses. 
And what a look of blessing that was when Jesus 
^ looked round about on them which sat about Him,' 
and ' stretched forth His hand toward ' them, and 
gave them the right of the nearest and dearest 
relationships ! ^ Oh ! let us take time (make time, 
if need be) to ^sit about Him ' ^ and listen to His 
teaching and meet His look. 

And, last of the seven, there is for His people 
the special look of strengthening.^ There is so much 
in it. Suppose you are called to take part in some 
busy and complicated arrangements; it is all new 

1 Cant. vii. 12, 2 Luke xxii. 61. 3 Mark ix. 24. 

"* Luke ix. 38, 5 Matt. viii. 8; Mark v. 28 ; ib. ix. 20, 21. 

* Deut. xxvi. 15. 7 Mark iii. 34; Matt. xii. 49. 

* Deut. xxxiii. 3 ; Luke x. 394 ^ Judg. vi. 14. 



MORNING THO UGHTS. 



47 



to you; you are not quite sure you are doing tlie 
right thing in the right way ; you hesitate and go 
on slowly and uncertainly, with no sense of fretdom 
and power. All at once you catch the eye of the 
one who is leading and organizing ! ^ The look is 
enough ; there is direction, approval, confidence, 
encouragement, in that one glance, and you work 
away altogether differently. Very graciously does 
the Master sometimes give this strengthening look — 
giving, in a way no one could convey to another, 
just what we needed for our special work. We know 
that our Lord has looked upon us, and the look has 
flashed electric strength into heart and hand ; and we 
go on our way rejoicing, not at all in feeling any more 
able than before, but in the brightness of His power, 
saying, ' I will go in the strength of the Lord God. '* 
And then His own strength is ours, and He says, 
* Go in this t'l}' might,' for ^ thy God hath com- 
manded thy strength ; ' ^ and yet we know more 
distinctly than ever that it is His strength which is 
made perfect in our weakness.* Who is it that shall 
have the strengthening look of the Lord ? ' To this 
man will I look,' saith Jehovah, * even to him that 
is poor and of a contrite spirit.' ^ It was he who 
said, *What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look 
upon such a dead dog as I am ? ' who ^ did eat con- 
tinually at the king's table. '^ 

1 Ps. xxxii. 8, 2 Ps. xliv. 3; ib. Ixxi. 16; ib. IxxEvi. 161. 

* Ps. Ixviii. 28. ^ Isa. xlv. 4 ; 2 Cor. xii. 9. 

& Isa. Ixvi. 2. * 2 Sam. ix. 8 ; ib. ix. 13. 



48 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



THIRTEENTH DAY. 



HlUsi^eb (Buibance, 

•And guided them on every side.' — 2 Chron. xxxii. 22. 

SEE the completeness of Jehovah's guidance! It 
is so different from human guidance. How 
seldom we feel that a human counsellor has seen our 
difficulty from every point of view, balanced all its 
bearings, and given guidance which will meet all 
contingencies, and be right not only on one side, 
but *on every side.' But ^ His work is perfect'^ 
in this as in all other details ; He will guide * when 
ye turn to the right hand, a?Ld when ye turn to the 
left.*^ Perhaps we have gone about as Elymas did 
in his mist and darkness, * seeking some to lead him 
by the hand,'^ putting confidence in earthly guides, 
and finding again and again that ' it is not in man 
that walketh to direct his steps,'* and getting per- 
plexed with one-sided counsels. Let us to-day put 
our confidence in His every-sided guidance. 

Very often, the very recoil from an error lands us 
in an opposite one ; because others, or we ourselves, 
have gone too far in one direction, we thenceforth 

1 Dcut. xxxii. 4. 2 isa. xxx. ax. 

d Acts xiii. II. 4 Jcr. x. 23. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, ^g 

do not go far enough, or vice versa : excess re-acting 
in defect, and defect in excess ; a received truth 
overshadowing its equally valuable complementary 
one; the fear of overstepping the boundary line of 
the narrow track of truth and right, on the one side, 
leading us unconsciously to overstep it on the other 
side. But the promise which we should claim is, 
that the Holy Spirit would guide us into all truth, 
^ on every side.^^ 

How intensely restful is this completeness of gui- 
dance ! There is nothing outside of God's all- 
inclusive promises about it. ^ I will direct all his 
ways." * I will direct their work in truth. '^ Not 
only the general course, but *■ the steps of a good 
man are ordered by the Lord;'* and what is less 
than a single step ! Just realize this : every single 
little step of this coming day ordered by Jehovah ! 
And lest you should sigh, * This is not for me, be- 
cause I am not good,* He repeats the same assur- 
ance still more simply: *The Lord directeth his 
steps. '^ Now if we really believe these words, need 
we feel worried because we cannot see the steps 
ahead which Jehovah is going to direct, if we will 
let Him? « 

If we will let Him! Yes, this is no fatalistic 
leading. The guidance is conditional. He says, *I 
will guide thee with Mine eye ;'' but then we must 
look up to meet His eye. ' Thou shalt guide me 
with Thy counsel ;'® but then we must listen for and 
listen to His counsel. * He shall direct thy paths ;'• 

1 John xvi. 13. * Isa. xlv. 13. ' Isa. Ixi. 8. 

^ Ps. xxxvi. 23. 6 Prov. xvi. 9. c Isa. xlii. 16. 

' Ps. xxxii. 8. • Ps. Ixxiii. 24, • Prov. riiu 34* 



50 MORNING THOUGHTS, 

but it is when we acknowledge Him in all our ways.* 
He does not lead us whether or no ! 

Suppose a little child is going with its father 
through an untracked wood. If it walks ever such 
a little way apart, it wiJl make many a lost step ; and 
though the father wil) not let it get out of sight and 
hearing, will not let it get lost, yet he may let it find 
out for itself that going just the other side of this tree 
leads it into a hopeless thicket, and stepping just 
the other side of this stone leads it into a muddy 
place, and the little steps have to be retraced again 
and again, till at last it asks the father to hold its 
hand, and puts and leaves its hand in his. Then, 
and not till then, there will be no lost step, for it is 
guided ^on every side/ 

Need the little child go on a little longer by itself 
first? Had it not better put its hand into the father's 
at once ? Will you not do so *• from this time 'T from 
this morning? Give up trying to pick your way; 
even if the right paths in which He leads you are 
paths that you have not known, say, 'Even there 
shall Thy hand lead me/^ Let Him teach you His 
paths,* and ask Him to make not your way, but 
' Thy way straight before my face. '^ So shall you find 
the completeness and the sweetness of His guidance. 
For * the Lord shall guide thee continually,'^ 'by 
the springs of waters shall He guide ' thee '^ He 
shall be the guide of your youth, and carry you 
even unto your old age f He will be your guide 
even unto death,® and beyond : for one strain of the 

1 Prov, iii. 6. 2Jer. iii, 4. 3 Ps. cxxxix. 10. 

^ Ps. XXV. 4. 5 Ps. V. 8. 6 Isa. Iviii. 11. 

? Isa. xlix. 19. • Jer, iii. 4; Isa. xlvi. 4. « Ps. xiviii, 14. 



MORNING TI JO UGH IS. 



SI 



song of the victorious ones that stand upon the sea 
of glass mingled with fire ^ shall be, * Thou hast 
guided them in Thy strength unto Thy Holy habi- 
tation. '^ 

* I know not the way I am going, 

But well do I know my guide ; 
With a childlike trust I give my hand 

To the Mighty I^riend at my side: 

And the only thing that I say to Him 
As He takes it, is : *' Hold it fast; 

Suifer me not to lose my way, 
Aaid lead me home at last." * 



FOURTEENTH DAY. 



IRuler, t>ecau0e SJeliverer. 

* Rule thou over us, . . , for thou hast delivered us.'-^ 
j"UDGES viii. 22. 

ALTHOUGH the passage in which these words 
occur cannot be considered a typical one, 
yet we may perhaps take them as illustrating and 
epitomizing the desire of every one whom Christ 
has delivered. 

But what about this deliverance which precedes 
the prayer, ^ Rule thou over us' ? Is it ours ? Do 

*Rev.xv.2,3. 2 Ex. XV. T3. 



52 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



we not know whether He has delivered us or not ? 
It is no doing of ours, for * we have not wrought 
any deliverance.' ^ We have only His word about 
it, but that is indeed enough, in its absolute and 
unmistakable assurance : * Jesus, which delivered 
us from the wrath to come ; ' ^ < w^q hath delivered 
us from the power of darkness.'^ This grand de- 
liverance is accomplished, and Jesus Himself pro- 
claims it. Will you doubt His own proclamation 
of His own act ? He has opened the prison doors, 
and now bids the captives go free, and know that 
they are free.* He has vanquished the foe and 
broken the bands of his yoke, and now tells you 
that He givethyou the victory which He has already 
won. What can He do more? He will do no 
more, because He has done all ; therefore, if you 
do not accept the deliverance which He has 
wrought, there is no other for you, and ^ nothing 
can be put to it.' ^ Only believe it, and then you 
will joyfully say, ' He hath delivered my soul in 
peace from the battle that was against me.' ^ 

But you will not stop there. Merely to be ^ in 
peace ' ^ is not the end and aim of deliverance. If 
we are truly delivered, the Deliverer will soon be 
more to us than even the deliverance, and the 
gratitude and love will seek expression in obedience. 
Soldiers are ready to follow the captain who has 
won the victory anywhere and everywhere; they 
will not want to be in any other service, least of all 
in that of his foe. 



1 Isa. xxvi. i8. 2 I Thess. i. lo. 3 Col. i. 13. 

4 Isa. xlii. 7 ; ib. Ixi. x. ^ Eccles. iii. 14. • Ps. Iv. i8, 

» Luke i. 74.1 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



53 



We may take this as a test of the reality of our 
own participation in the deliverance which Christ 
has wrought for us. If we are saying, * Rule Thou 
over us/ it is a sure proof that we may add, 'for 
Thou hast delivered us ; ' for it is His people who 
are willing in the day of His power/ 

This ruling is indeed the completion of the de- 
liverance. It is not merely that the enemy is con- 
quered and expelled from the stronghold, but that 
the citadel is occupied by a stronger than he ; ^ 
otherwise the garrison would be left headless and 
defenceless, and open at any moment to the fatal 
return of the foe. So the Saviour, who has re- 
deemed our life from destruction,^ is the Jesus who 
shall save His people from their sins/ who shall cast 
down imaginations, and bring every thought into 
captivity to the obedience of Christ.^ The 
Deliverer who comes to Zion is He who shall turn 
away ungodliness from Jacob. ^ If we are not 
willing for this, we may well doubt whether we have 
any part or lot in the matter, and fear that we are 
yet in the bond of iniquity ; ^ for Christ w^ill not 
arrange a partial salvation to meet our partial 
desire.^ He will not be our refuge from the penalty 
of sin, if we do not want Him as our refuge from 
the power. ^ When the elders of Gilead turned 
to Jephthah in their distress, that he miglit lead 
them to victory over their oppressors, what was 
his condition ?^° — 'If ye bring me home again 
to fight against the children of Amnion, and 

iPs.cx.3. 2 Luke xi. 22. 3 Ps. ciii. 4. 

4 Matt. i. 21. 5 2 Cor. x. 5. 6 Isa, lix. 20. 

7 Acts viii. 21 ; ib. viii. 23. 8 Rom. vi. i, at. 
« Titus ii. 14. 10 Judg. xi. 4-8. 



54 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



the Lord deliver them before me, shall I be your 
head?'"" 

Lord Jesus, Thou art exalted to be a Prince and 
a Saviour,^ and as such I need Thee and I desire 
Thee. ^ Thou hast delivered my soul from death/ ^ 
tkereforeY pray Thee to deliver my feet from falling, 
that I may ^ run the way of Thy commandments/ * 
Oh, sit and rule upon Thy throne in my heart ; ^ 
reign there until Thou hast put all enemies under 
Thy feet ! « 



FIFTEENTH DAY. 



Separation unto. 

* Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of 
Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to 
bring you near to himself? ' — Num. xvi. 9. 

THE thought of separation, so inseparable from 
true and growing Christian life/ is sometimes 
invested with an unnecessary sternness, because it is 
only viewed in one aspect. Young Christians are 
tempted to think * separation from . . . ' a hard 
thing, because they do not see how it is far more 
than outweighed by ^separation unto.^^ Let us think 
a little of this bright and beautiful side of it. 

1 Judg. xi. 9. 2 Acts V. 31. s p.;. ivi, 13. 

4 Ps. cxix. 32. 5 Zech. vi, 13. « x Cor. xv.25. 

7 John xvii. \6 ; x John ii. 15. 8 Rom. i. i. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



55 



There is no true separation from the things which 
Jesus calls us to leave/ without a corresponding 
separation unto things which are incomparably 
better.^ One hardly likes to speak of it as compen- 
sation, because the * unto * is so infinitely more 
than the *from;' it is like talking of a royal friend- 
ship compensating for dropping a beggar's 
acquaintance, or the whole Bank of England for a 
brass farthing, or palace life for ^ giving up ' work- 
house life P 

First, and chiefly, we are separated unto the Lord 
Himself.* He wants us not only for servants, but 
for friends;^ and He makes the friendship a splendid 
and satisfying reality. He wants to bring us * near 
to Himself,' that we may be ^ a people near unto 
Him.'^ He will not have a half possession in us, 
and so He says He hath ^severed you from other 
people,'^ why? ^ that ye should be Mine!' ^chosen 
unto Himself,' * His peculiar treasure,'^ * separated 
from among all the people of the earth to be Thine 
inheritance.'^ Is it * a small thing' thus to be the 
Lord's Nazarite, Mioly unto the Lord all the days 
of his separation '?^^ is any earthly crown to be com- 
pared to ' the consecration (margin, separation) of 
his God upon his head '? ^^ 

We are separated also to far happier human 
friendships than the world knows. ^^ There is no 
isolation intended. * The Lord is able to give thee 
much more than this. '^^ Those who separated them- 

1 Matt. iv. 19, 20. 2 Mark x. 29, 30. ^ phil, iii. 8; i Cor. iii. 21-23, 

* Num. vi. 2 ; Ps. iv. 3. 5 John xv. 15. 

• Ps. cxlviii. 14. 7 Lev. xx. 26. ^ Ps. cxxxv. 4. 
•i Kings viii. 53; Titus ii. 14. ^^ Num. vi. 8. 

^ Num. vi. 7. 12 g g X Thess. ii. 17-20, iii. 9 ; 2 John i. Z2. 

13 2 Chron. xxv. q. 



56 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



stXvts from the people of the land unto the law of 
God, ' they clave to their brethren.'^ That is just it ; 
we may lose ^people/ but we find brethren,'^ with 
all the love and pleasure and freedom of intercourse 
— yes, and even mirth — which that relationship 
brings. Is not this ^much more' than the society 
of 'people '? 

But we do not get this, perhaps do not even 
guess its existence, as long as we try for both.* 
Both means neither, in this case ; we are conscious 
of the hollowness of the one, and we are not sepa- 
rated unto, and therefore cannot possibly know the 
enjoyment of, the other. 

Then we are separated unto work, ^ the work 
whereunto I have called them;** very different 
kinds, but to every man his own work, ^ and thereby 
an end of all the gnawing purposelessness, and 
down-weighing uselessness, and miserable time- 
killing, and sense of helpless waste of life. Ennui 
is no part of a separated life ; there is no room for 
that wretchedness any more. ' Whose I am, and 
whom I serve,' ®' fills it up. Some are separated 
more especially * to bear the ark of the covenant of 
the Lord.'^ Some only to stand before Him, it 
may be * by night,' ^ so that ^ songs in the night ' * 
may ascend to His glory. Some in a thousand 
ways ' to minister unto Him,' to His poor, to ^ His 
prisoners,' ^^ spiritually or temporally ; always *unto 
Him ' " in His representatives. But all ' to bless in 

1 Neh. X. 28, 29. 2 Markx. 30; i John iii. 14. 

3 Matt. vi. 24 ; Jas. iv. 4. 4 Acts xiii. 2. 

5 Mark xiii. 34, ^ Acts xxvii. 23. 7 isa. Iii. 11 ; Deut. x.8. 

8 Ps. cxxxiv. I. ® Job XXXV. 10. 10 Ps. Ixix. 33. 
11 Matt. XXV. 40, 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



57 



His name ; ' ^ for praise is the invariable service of 
separation. 

' Ye see your calling ; ' ^ is it not a high one ? 
*Seemeth it but a small thing to you? ^ ^ Seemeth 
it too stern a thing? Is it not rather a ' better 
thing ' than fallen man could have dreamt of as- 
piring to?* a brighter life than has entered into the 
natural heart of man even to imagine ? Is it for 
you? Listen ! ^Be ye separate/ and, what then? 
* / will receive you.'^ ^ This is His command- 
ment ' ^ to you, and this is His promise. Will you 
obey ? Then you shall know a little, but every day 
more and more, of that unspeakable blessing of 
being ' received ' by the Father, until the day when 
Jesus shall come again and receive you unto Himself 
for the grand separation of eternity with Him.^ 

<As by the light of opening day 

The stars are all concealed, 
So earthly pleasures fade away 

When Jesus is revealed.' 

John Newton- 

1 I Chron. xxiii. 13. 2 x Cor. i. 26; Phil. iii. 14. 

8 Num. xvi. 9. 4 I Cor. ii. 9, 10. 6 2 Cor. vi. 17, 

• I John iii. 23. 7 John xiv. 3. * John xvii, 34* 



rR MORNING THOUGHTS. 



SIXTEENTH DAY. 



fIDanifesting tbe Xife of 3c0U0. 

* That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our 
mortal flesh.' — 2 Cor. iv. 11. 

IS not this a ^ high ' and ' holy * and ^ heavenly ' 
calling ?^ Yet * even hereunto were ye called : 
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an 
example, that we should follow His steps. '^ ' Here- 
unto/ to do just as He would have done, sometimes 
even just as He did do in like circumstances; to 
show not our patience, but * the patience of Jesus 
Christ,'^ — not mere human meekness and gentlei^ess, 
but * the meekness and gentleness of Christ,'^ and so 
on with all the other beautiful and holy qualities 
which shone in ^ the life also of Jesus. ' While our 
Mife is hid with Christ in God,'^ His life is to be 

* manifest in our mortal flesh,* — yes, ^magnified in 
my body.'^ 

^ How shall this be? ' First, Jesus Himself must 
dwell in our hearts by faith,^ or His life cannot be 

* manifest.' He has said He will do so, but it is on 
conditions which He specifies: i. Hearing His 

1 Phil. iii. 14 ; 2 Tim. i, 9 ; Heb. iii. i. ^ i Pet. ii. 21. 

3 Rev. i. 9. 4 2 Cor. x. i, & Col. iii. 3. 

S Phil. i. 20. 7 Eph, iii. 17. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



59 



voice ; 2. Opening the door to Him ; 3. Loving 
Him; 4. Keeping His words. ^ Not one of these 
can we fulfil without His grace, but not one of them 
will He deny us grace to fulfil, and the real desire 
to fulfil them is the beginning of that grace. 
Therefore let us ^open unto Him immediately/ and 
let Him come in and ^ abide with us/^ so that 
henceforth it may be, ' Not I, but Christ liveth in 
me.'^ 

We want Him to make us vessels meet for this 
great use ;* pure and transparent vessels through 
which His glorious life may shine ; so transparent, 
that, like clear glass, they may be altogether lost 
sight of in the light which streams through them ; 
so pure, that they may not dim the radiance of His 
indwelling. 

The word ^ manifest ' is more than mere show- 
ing ; it implies a bringing to light, shining forth, 
and comes from the idea of a torch or lantern. We 
can only shine as lights in the world by bearing the 
Light of the world within us.^ But it is a grand and 
solemn responsibility. Our Lord Jesus is hidden 
from the eyes of the world; they do not see Him, 
they only see us, and our lives are to show ihem 
what His life is. What a tremendous trust our Mas- 
ter has given us ! Who is sufficient for this thing ?* 
It is very real. He, our precious Lord, will be held 
in more or less esteem this day ; His power, His 
grace. His sweetness will be judged of according to 
what the outsiders see in our lives. This day it rests 



1 Rev. iii. 20; John xiv. 23. 2 Luke xii. 36 ; ib. xxiv. 29. 

3 Gal. ii 20. 4 2 Tim. ii. 21. 

• Phil. ii. 15 ; John viii. 12. 6 2 Cor. ii. 16. 



6o MORNING IHOUGHTS, 

with us to bring fresh reproach and discredit on His 
dear name, by caricaturing His life, or so truly to 
manifest it ^ that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ 
may be glorified in you.'^ 

Thy life in me be shown ! 

Lord, I would henceforth seek 

To think and speak 
Thy thoughts, Thy words alone, 
No more my own ! 



SEVENTEENTH DAY. 



^be l^oRe*=t)e0tro)?ing Hnointtng. 

- * The yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.'— 

ISA. X. 27. 

THE Assyrian yoke of old was not so real, 
so tangible, so continually felt a yoke, as that 
under which many a child of God is writhing ; yet 
they are ^called unto liberty,' even ' the glorious 
liberty of the children of God.'^ And if the yoke 
of sin is felt to be real, the promised destruction of 
it surely will not be less so. If it is, as we know by 
sorrowful experience, no imaginary bondage, neither 
shall the deliverance be imaginary. 

1 2 Thess. i. 12. 2 Gal. v. 13 ; Rom. yiii. ai. 



MO R XING THOUGHTS, 6 1 

You feel the yoke, but how shall it be destroyed? 
I. Because of the grand anointing of our Lord 
Jesus Christ by God Himself ' with the Holy Ghost 
and with power '^ to proclaim liberty to the cap- 
tives; ^ the grace and might of the triune Jehovah 
thus combining in the proclamation of the liberty 
\ which Jesus purchased by taking upon Him the form 
^of a slave and becoming obedient to death. ^ 

2. ^Because of the anointing' which we ^ have 
received of Him,'^ because the precious ointment 
upon our High Priest's head goes down to the skirts 
of His garments/ shared by His least and lowest 
members. 

Perhaps we stop here and say, ^ But I cannot 
realize that I have received it, because my yoke is 
heavy upon me. ' Then see how you shall receive it ; 
there is only one way — not by fresh revelation or 
special voice from heaven, but simply by faith — 
^ that ye might receive the promise of the spirit 
through faith. '^ Give glory to God, and be fully 
persuaded that what He has promised He is able 
also to perform;^ and His ^ free Spirit' will be 
faithful to His promise, and the yoke, even your 
yoke, ' shall be destroyed because of the anointing. '^ 

All other yokes are sub-included in the yoke of 
our sins, and this is exactly what Jesus came to save 
us from; the very first, as it is the all-inclusive 
New Testament promise, ^ Thou shalt call His name 
Jesus : for He shall save His people from their 
sins.'^ Are all His wonderful promises about this 

1 Acts X. 38. 2 Tsa. Ixi. i. 3 Phll. ii. 7. 8. 

^ I John ii. 27. 6 Ps. cxxxiii. 2. 6 Oal. ill. 14. 

' Rom. iv. 20, 21. 8 Ps. Ii. 12 ; Heb. x. 23. » Matt. i. 21. 



52 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

mere empty words, with no power or reality in 
them? Are they the exceptions to His declaration 
that 'My words shall not pass away'?^ the only 
promises which are not Yea and Amen in Christ 
Jesus ?^ Listen! they need no note or comment. 
' Sin shall not have dominion over you.' ' Ye were 
the servants of Sin, but, . , . being made free 
from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness,'^ 
^ Now being made free from sin/ * the law of the 
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from 
the law of sin and death.** 'Whosoever commit- 
teth sin is the servant of sin. ... If the Son there- 
fore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.'^ 
Let us look at the context of each (only not quoted 
for want of space), and, if our experience has noth- 
ing answering to all this purpose of His goodness'^ 
let us ask Him to show us His own meaning and 
His own royal intention, and to 'reveal even this 
unto you '^ by the unction from the Holy one,^ who 
convinces all the more deeply of sin when He con- 
vinces also of the practical power of Christ's blood 
to cleanse from all sin, and of the reality of His 
present salvation.^ Do not hug the yoke which He 
has promised to destroy. 

'And it shall come to pass in the day that the 
Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from 
thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou 
wast made to serve, that thou shalt . . . say, How 
hath the oppressor ceased ! '^^ 'In that day . . . 
his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder.' 

1 Matt. xxiv. 35. 22 Cor. i. 20. s Rom. vi. 14; ib. vi. 17, 18. 

■* Rom. vi. 22 ; ib. viii. 2. 6 John viii. 34, 36. 
6 Eph. i. 4. 7 Phil. iii. 15. 8 i John ii. 20. 

8 John xvi. 8 ; i John i. 7. 10 isa. xiv. 3, 4. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 63 

But ^ that day ' may be this day ! Why not ? * For 
now will I break his yoke from off thee/^ * Where 
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty j'^ and He 
hath said, * Ask, and ye ^/^<2// receive.*^ Recognize 
the anointing by faith, and then * stand fast there- 
fore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us 
free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of 
bondage;'* for *this is His commandment.' Then 
you shall ^ walk at liberty,'^ and give Him the glad 
' offering of a free heart,' rejoicing in His easy 
yoke/ and (shall we not add), ^ proclaiming liberty 
every man to his neighbor.'^ 

Upon Thy promises I stand, 

Trusting in thee : Thine own right hand 

Doth keep and comfort me ! 
My soul doth triumph in Thy word ; 
Thine, Thine be all the praise, dear Lord, 

As Thine the victory. 

Love perfecteth what it begins ; 

Thy power doth save me from i-ny sins; 

Thy grace upholdeth me. 
This life of trust, how glad ! hew swee^^ ^ 
My need and Thy great fullneis m^^et, 

And I have all in thee. 

Jj^VN S. S\r^'«^T. 



1 Nah. i. 13. 2 2 Cor. iii. 17. 8 Matt. vii. \ 

4 Gal. V. z. 6 Ps. cxix. 45. ^ Matt. xi. a^ 

^ Jer. xxxiv. xs. 



64 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



EIGHTEENTH DAY. 



®ur Morl^0 in (5o^'0 Iban^. 

* Commit thy works unto the Lord.' — Prov. xvi. 3, 

SUPPOSE an angel were sent down to tell us this 
morning that he was commissioned to take all 
our work under his charge to-day, that we might 
just be easy about it, because he would undertake 
it, and his excellent strength and wisdom ^ would 
make it all prosper a great deal more than ours, 
how extremely foolish it would be not to avail our- 
selves of such superhuman help ! What a holiday 
it would seem, if we accepted the offer, as we went 
about our business with the angel beside us ! what 
a day of privilege and progress ! and how we should 
thank God for the extraordinary relief His kindness 
had sent ! 

Far higher is our privilege this day ; not merely 
permitted, but pressed upon us by royal command- 
ment, ' Commit thy works unto Jehovah ! ' Yet 
this is but the third strand of a golden cord which 
is strong enough (if yielded to) to draw us up out 
of all the miry clay of the ^ pit of noise, * ^ where 

1 Ps. ciii. 20. 2 Ps. xl. 2, margin. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 65 

the voices of fear and anxiety and distrust make 
such a weary din. We are to commit the keeping 
of our souls to Him ; ^ then we shall be ready for 
the command to commit our way unto Him, and 
then our works.^ Then, having obeyed, we may 
exchange the less confident expression, ' Unto God 
would I commit my cause,' ^ for the bright 
assurance, ' I am persuaded that He is able to keep 
that which I have committed unto Him/* Of 
course He is ! 

Not an angel, but Jehovah bids us this day com- 
mit our works to Him. It is not approvmg the 
idea, nor thinking about it, nor even asking Him 
to take them, that is here commanded, but commit- 
ting them : a definite act of soul, a real transaction 
with our Lord. Suppose you have an interview 
with another worker, and, having had a distinct 
understanding as to what you wish him to undertake 
for you, you verbally and explicitly transfer to him 
the management and responsibility of some work. 
You are not actually in sight of it, you have no 
tangible objects to hand over, you might do it in a 
dark room, but the transaction is real. The burden 
of the work is no longer upon you, if only you 
have confidence in the one to whom you have com- 
mitted it. And if you have the further confidence 
that he is considerably more capable than yourself, 
and can do it all a great deal better, you are not 
only relieved but rejoiced. Just such a definite 
transaction does our Lord bid us make with Him 
this morning. Will you do it ? Will you not, be- 

1 1 Pet. iv. 19. 2 Ps. xxxvii. 5. 

3 Job V. 8. 4 2 Tim. i. 12. 



66 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

fore venturing away from your quiet early hour, 

* commit thy works ' to Him definitely, the special 
things you have to do to-day, and the unforeseen 
work which He may add in the course of it ? 

And then, leave it with Him ! You would not 
have the bad taste to keep on fidgeting about it to 
the friend who had kindly undertaken your work 
for you ! If we would only apply the commonest 
rules of human courtesy and confidence to our in- 
tercourse with our Divine Master ! Leave details 
and results all and altogether with Him. You see, 
when you have committed it to Him, your ^ works 
are in the hand of God.'^ Really in His Hand ! 
and where else would you wish them to be ? Would 
you like to have them back in your own ? Do you 
think His grasp is not firm enough, or the hollow 
of His hand^ not large enough, to hold your little 
bits of work quite securely ? Even if He tries your 
faith a little, and you seem to have labored in vain 
and spent your strength for nought, cannot you 
trust your ' own Master' enough to add, ' Yet ytirefy 
my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with 
my God ' ?^ Especially as He says, ' Thou art my 
servant, in whom I will be glorified ; ' * by which 
' ye know that your labor is not in vain in the 
Lord.'^ 

That for the past work. For the present, * I will 
direct their work in truth.* ^ And for all our future 
work, a singular shining in the eastern horizon : 

* Mine elect shall long en joy the work of their hands. " 

1 Eccles. ix. I. 2 Isa. xl. 12. 8 Isa. xlix. 4. 

4 Isa. xlix. 3. * I Cor. xv. 58. « Isa. Ixi. 8. 

f Isa. Ixv. 22. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 67 

Oh to be nothing, nothing ! 

Only to lie at His feet, 
A broken and emptied vessel, 

For the Master's use made meet. 
Emptied, that He may fill me, 

As forth to His service I go ; 
Broken, that so unhindered 

His life through me might flow. 

Oh to be nothing, nothing ! 

Only as led by His hand ; 
A messenger at His gateway, 

Only waiting for His command. 
Only an instrument ready 

His praises to sound at His will ; 
Willing, should He not require me. 

In silence to wait on Him still. 

G. M. TAYLoa. 



NINETEENTH DAY. 



WciZ Secret of ifulfiUeb Beeire^ 

« Delight thyself also in the Lord ; and He shall give thee 
tbe desires of thy heart.' — Ps. xxxvii. 4. 

ONE often hears this promise quoted without its 
conditional precept ; ^ but we have no right to 
put asunder anything that God has joined together. 
Every heart has desires, but not even every Christ- 

1 Prov. X. 24. 



58 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

ian heart delights itself in the Lord. This is the 
reason of the great wail of unfulfilled desire — the 
very howl, one might say^ which makes a howling 
wilderness of this fair world. 

It stands to reason ; if our delight is absolutely 
and entirely in the Lord, all our desires will be 
not only * before Him,* ^ but the whole ' desire of 
our soul ' will be concentrated upon Him.^ radiating 
from that centre along the bright rays of His ^ good 
and perfect and acceptable will. ^ ^ Now, of course. 
His will must and will be carried out ; for ' He 
doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, 
and among the inhabitants of the earth : and none 
can stay His hand.* * 

So, if we delight truly in the Lord, and thereby 
have our desires so harmonized with His will that 
they float out on the same great tide of perfect 
music, there will be no damper upon their vibrations, 
but they will be fulfilled for us because His will is 
fulfilled.^ 

His will is not, as we are tempted practically to 
think, something quite separate and apart from 
Himself, so that we may think Him gracious, and 
yet think His will rather stern ; or so that we may 
love Him, and yet very much dislike His will. His 
will is the very essence of Himself going forth in 
force ; it is the primary difference between what we 
know of Jehovah and what the Hindoo imagines of 
Brahma. 

We must not overlook the important word ^ also.** 
This points us to a preliminary condition: 

1 Ps. i.:xm. 25 ; ib. xxxviii. 9. 2 Isa. xxvi. 8, 9 ; 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. 
SRom.xii. 2. 4 Dan. iv. 35. 6 Eph. v. 17. * Ps. xxxvii. 3. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



69 



* Trust in the Lord, and do good. '^ Trust, evidenced 
by obedience, is the stepping-stone to delight in 
the Lord, and the only one. Obedience is the re- 
sult of trust, and the condition of delight. 

Two great cases of this condition of delight are 
distinctly given us — one spiritual, the other 
practical. 

1. * If thou return to the Almighty, . . . ^/i^n 
thou shalt have thy delight in the Almighty.* ^ It 
is not said to saints, but to repentant sinners' — not 
to the eldest son, but to the returning prodigal.* 
To me, the wanderer, it is offered. To me, the 
backslider, it is held out. We can never say: 

* The Lord does not mean such a one as I to delight 
in Him; that sort of ^ thing is only meant for those 
who have always been consistent Christians.* If so, 
He would not have said, ^ If thou return.^ ^ With- 
out true returning, there cannot be delight in the 
Lord ; but, conversely, if there is no delight, 
ought we not to 'consider our ways,'^ lest some 

* returning ' should be needed ? 

2. ' If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, 
from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call 
the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honor- 
able ; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own 
ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking 
thine own words : T/ien shalt thou delight thyself 
in the Lord.' ^ On our knees before Him let us ex- 
amine ourselves as to every clause of this great con- 
dition. Perhaps /lere we shall find the joints in the 

1 Isa. xii. 2, 3. 2 Job xxii. 23, 26. 3 Matt. ix. 11, 13. 

* Luke XV. 2, 32. 6 Job xv. 11. ^ Hag. i. 7. 

7 Isa. Iviii. 13, 14. 



70 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 



harness, the secret controversy ^ which hinders the 
realization of delight in the Lord, and therefore of 
the annexed promise. 

A word about the delight itself. There is some- 
thing so real, and natural, and childlike about it. 
It is joy realized — joy in flower, bright, growing, 
alive, beautiful. It is the sparkle of the upspringing 
fountain in the clear sunlight. This childlike 
delight is to be in the Lord Himself. It is quite 
another thing to delight in what He does for us. 
The Israelites ^ delighted themselves in Thy great 
goodness.^ Nevertheless they were disobedient, and 
rebelled.' Not under the shadow of even a God- 
given gourd, ^ but under His own shadow, may you 
sit down ' with great delight.' * Then all His fruits 
shall be sweet to your taste ; you shall delight in 
His will, in His comforts, in His commandments, 
and in His people.^ You shall desire ^what His 
soul desireth,' ^ and ' He shall give thee the desires 
of thine Heart. ' ^ 

Oh, blessed life ! — the heart at rest 
When all without tumultous seems — 
That trusts a higher will, and deems 

That higher will, not mine, the best. 

Oh, blessed life ! — heart, mind, and soul, 
From self- born aims and wishes free, 
In all at one with Deity, 

And loyal to the Lord's control. 

W. T. Matson. 

1 Micah vi. 2. 2 Neh. ix. 25, 26. 3 Jonah iv. 6. 

* Cant, ii. 3. ^ Ps. xl. 8 ; ib. xciv. 19 ; ib. cxix, 47 ; ib. xvi. 3. 

* Job xxiii. 13. ' Ps.cxlv. 19. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



71 



TWENTIETH DAY. 



^Tailing (5ot) at Ibis latIlor^, 

*I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.' — 
Acts xxvii. 25. 

THEN, of course, St. Paul could be calm, and 
bright, and confident, ' with a heart at leisure 
from itself to cheer and counsel others. Yet could 
any circumstances have been more depressing ? — a 
miserable and crowded ship, to which our most 
wretched steamer would be a palace, exceedingly 
tossed with tempest, not a gleam of sun or star for 
many days, all reckoning lost, driving wildly on to 
certain shipwreck, and the graphic and suggestive 
touch of Mong abstinence.' 

Whatever this day may bring forth, there can be 
nothing like this for us. Yet even the lesser trials 
of our own journey may and must be met with the 
same simple and sufficient secret of calm, simple 
belief in what God has said. It is strange and sur- 
prising even to ourselves how absolutely enough we 
always do find it, just to believe that it shall be 
even as God has told us, and 'rest ' on His word.^ 

Prov. xvi. 3. 



7 2 MORNING THO UGHTS. 

The * it ' may be for us one thing to-day, another 
to-morrow, according to the circumstances He 
sends ; but the ' shall be ' cannot be severed from 
it. He has ^told us' so much, that we have only 
to recognize our special need, to find at once that 
He has already ' told ' us exactly what we want. 

Glance at the needs of this day — our weakness, 
our openness to temptation, our liability to fall,^ 
our besetting sins, our ignorance, our present or 
possible troubles, our longing for Himself, which 
includes all other holy longing — seven pressing 
realities.^ Now let us hush our hearts to listen to 
the reality of His corresponding replies: ^I will 
strengthen thee.'^ ' Ye shall be able to quench all 
the fiery darts of the wicked.'* ^Able to keep you 
from falling'^ (^Gr. ^stumbling*). ^ He shall save 
His people from their sins '^ (/. e. just your own 
special ones). ^ I will instruct thee and teach thee 
in the way which thou shalt go.'^ ^I will not leave 
you comfortless.' * I will come to you.'* Can we 
read these words — His own words, and say, ' I do 
not believe God ! ' Even the recoil from such an 
expression may help a trembling one to the joyful 
and only alternative : ^ I believe God, that it shall 
be even as it was told me.' Not less, not almost as, 
but ^even as,' with God's own fullness of meaning 
in each word of each promise. 

David prayed: 'Do as Thou hast said. . . . For 
Thou, O my God, hast told Thy servant that Thou 
wilt build him an house : therefore Thy servant hath 

1 I Pet. V. 8. 2 Ps. Ixxiii. 22 ; ib. Ix. 11 ; ib. Ixiii. i. 3 Isa. xli. 10. 
4 Eph. vi. 16. 5 Jude 24. * Matt. i. 21. 

7 Ps. xxxii. 8. 8 John xiv. 18. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



75 



foui^.d in his heart to pray before Thee.* And 
because God had ^promised this goodness/ he 
prayed on confidently : * Now therefore let it please 
Thee to bless . . . : for Thou blessest, O Lord, 
and it shall be blessed forever.'^ Has He not 
' told ' us of blessings beyond those for which David 
pleaded, and may we not claim these in the name 
of Jesus with a childlike, ' Do as Thou hast said' ? 

The ground of St. Paul's belief was not some- 
thing, but Some One. Simply, * I believe God' I 
An earnest worker said the other day, ' Oh, I am so 
glad it does not say, **I know what I liave be- 
lieved," but, *^ I know whom I have believed " ! '^ 
This belief, of course, includes all His messages, 
written or spoken. *If ye will not believe, surely 
ye shall not be established,'^ is a word of continual 
application to the trembling or wavering steps of 
our daily path. But * this is His commandment,'* 
'Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be es- 
tablished ; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper.'^ 
And then, ' Blessed is she that believed: for there 
shall be a performance of those things which were 
toldhtx from the Lord.'^ 

'Even as it was told me.' 'And so it came 
to pass. '^ 

1 I Chron. xvii. 23, 25. 2 2 Tim. i. 12. 3 Jsa. vii. 9. < i John iii. 23. 
6 2 Chron. xx. 20. « Luke i. 45. ''Acts xxvii. 25, 44. 



74 MORNING THOUGHTS. 



TWENTY-FIRST DAY. 



®ur Commission, 

•And let him that heareth say, Come.' — Rev. xxii. 17. 

^T^HEY delivered the king's commissions unto 
A the king's lieutenants.'^ Have some of us 
thought it would be easier to work for God if a 
definite commission were delivered to us, so that we 
could know exactly what we were to do and say^ — 
a commission so explicit, that there could be no 
mistake either in its personal delivery to ourselves 
or in our execution of it ? Then here it is ! 

To whom is it delivered? Simply to ^ him that 
heareth.' ^ The Spirit and the bride say, Come. 
And let him that heareth say. Come.'^ Then, if 
this blessed call has been heard by you, for you is 
the commission intended, and to you it is given. 
Not, are you a fit and polished instrument? not, 
are you a practised worker ? not, are you already a 
trained soldier, and therefore very capable of en- 
listing others?* not, have you a special gift of 
speech or pen?^ but simply and solely, have you 
heard for yourself the one sweet call, ' Come ' ? ^ 

1 Ezra viii. 36. 2 Josh. i. 16. 3 Rev. xxii. 17, 

4 2 Tim. ii. 2, 3. 6 j Cor. xii. 7-11. * Matl. xi. 28. 



MORNING THOUGH! S, 



75 



Now you see that the commission is for you, do 
you not ? But what is it ? Can anything be more 
simple and explicit? You are to ^ say, Cornell 
That is all ; but, in simple obedience to this com- 
mand of your King, what possibilities of blessing 
and success, of gladness to you and glory to Him, 
are enfolded! You are to 'say, Come/ Are you 
saying it ? Not, are you exercising a general good 
influence? not, do you try to lead and keep the 
conversation in profitable channels? not, do you 
speak about ^ good things ' or even about Christ? 
not, are you giving time and money to the further- 
ance of some branch of His work ? — you may be 
doing all this, and yet be distinctly disobeying His 
command, distinctly faithless and disobedient to 
your commission. You are missing the present priv- 
ilege and unspeakable happiness of winning souls, 
and foregoing the glorious reward annexed to it.^ 
For, assuredly, it is those who are literally saying 

* Come,' who are really ^ turning many to righteous- 
ness;'^ not because they are more gifted, but 
because God's powerful blessing is given with their 
obedience to His definite command. 

Why should we be at a loss what to say, when He 
has given us the very word? We have but to trans- 
mit the echo of His own call, ^ Come unto Me ; * 

* Come and see;'^ ^ If any man thirst, let him 
come unto Me and drink.' * 

Whatever the position of the one to whom we 
speak, there is always a suitable ^Come.' 'Come 
thou with us, and we will do thee good.'^ 'Come 

1 Prov. xi. 30. 8 Dan. xii. 3, 3 John i. 39, 46. 

4 John vii. 37, ^ Num. x. 2^ 



76 MORNING THOUGHTS, 

and see Him whom we have found. '^ ^ Come and 
let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual 
covenant that shall not be forgotten/^ Then, for 
those who have come, there is still always a ' Come 
up higher.'^ ^ Come up with me . . . that we 
may fight against the Canaanite/* * Come ye, and 
let us walk in the light of the Lord.'^ Oh, how 
such a call may be blessed to a weak-handed and 
feeble-footed Christian ? And still there is a ' come ' 
of special beauty and power for those who have 
yielded themselves to Him : * Now ye have conse- 
crated yourselves unto the Lord, come near.'^ And 
let us not shrink from faithfully echoing with no 
* uncertain sound, '"^ ' Come out from among them,'* 
remembering that when the heavenly Bridegroom 
says, ' Come with Me,' He adds, 'from Lebanon 
. . . from the lions' dens.'^ He who gives the 
commission always ogives opportunities of exercis- 
ing it ; but it is our part faithfully to seek and 
watch for these, and courage and faith will increase 
as they widen. The servant who was sent at first 
only to say ' Come ' to the bidden guests, was next 
sent to bring them in from a wider range, and then 
to * compel i\\tm. to come in ' from a wider still/^ 

The commission is laid before you this day ; it is 
inscribed with your own name, signed by your 
King's own hand, and sealed by the Spirit, who 
bears witness with your Spirit that His * Come ' has 
been heard by you.^^ Do you accept it? or do you 
refuse it ? There is no third alternative ! 



1 John i-46. 2 Jer. 1. 5. 3 Prov . xxv. 7. 

4 Judg. i. 3. S Isa. ii. 5. ®2 Chron. xxix 31. 

7 I Cor. xiv. 8. 82 Cor. vi. 17. • Cant. iv. 8. 

lOIiukc xiv. 17 ; ib. xiv. 21 ; ib. xiv. 23. '^ Rom. viii. i6. 



MORNING rilOUGIITS, yy 

Ye who hear the blessed call 

Of the Spirit and the Bride, 
Hear the Master's word to all, 

Your commission and your guide : 

* And let him that heareth say, 
Come,' to all yet far away. 

' Come ! ' alike to age and youth ; 

Tell them of our Friend above, 
Of His beauty and His truth, 

Preciousness, and grace, and love. 
Tell them what you know is true, 
Tell them what He is to you. 

Brothers, sisters, do not wait, 

Speak for Him who speaks to you! 

Wherefore should you hesitate ? 
This is no great thing to do. 

Jesus only bids you say, 

* Come !' and will you not obey ? 



TWENTY-SECOND DAY. 



BebolMng ant) declaring. 

* Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine 
«ars, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee ; for 
to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought 
hither : declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.' — 
EzEK. xl. 4. 

WHETHER the mysterious Measurer was a 
created angel or the divine Angel of the Gov- 



78 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 



enantj ^ we cannot tell. ' ^ But the message which he 
here gives to Ezekiel seems to illustrate the work of 
the Holy Spirit, whose office it is to take both the 
words and the things of Christ and shew them unto us.' 
^Eye hath not seen/ yet 'behold with thine 
eyes ; * ' nor ear heard/ yet ' hear with thine ears/ 
^neither have entered into the heart of man/ ^ yet 
'set thine heart upon all that I shall show thee.' ^ 
For * God hath revealed them unto us by His 
Spirit.* ^ To Ezekiel should be shown the wonder- 
ful temple, with its measurements, its laws, and its 
mystical services. To us shall be revealed the 
things which God hath prepared for them that love 
Him, ^ and (as if to let the ladder down a step lower) 
*for him that waiteth for Him.'^ Afterward, he 
beheld^ the glory of the God of Israel,' and ^ he 
heard Him speaking unto ' him.^ And we, by the 
Spirit, are to behold the glory of the Lord,^ and to 
*hear His voice ' calling us by name.^ 

This would seem to be all promise and privilege, 
rather than commandment ; something with which 
we have nothing at all to do but to wait and see if 
it comes ! Nay! * Behold with thine eyes.' ' Go 
forth and behold ' ^° your King! And when we 
accept the seemingly impossible command, the 
Spirit will open our eyes that we may see. ' Hear t 
with thine ears ! ' " And with (not even after) the 
obedient inclination of the ear, the still small voice 
will out-ring not only * earth's drowsy chime,' but 
all other voices. He says : * They shall hear My 

1 Matt. xxi. 27. 2 John xiv. 26; ib. xvi, 15. ^i Cor. ii. 9. 
^ I Cor. ii. 10. S I Cor. ii. 9. 6 fsa. Ixiv. 4. 

■^ Ezek. xliii. i, 2 ; ib. xliii. 6. ^ 1 Cor. iii. 18. 

•John X. 3. 10 Cant. iii. 11. "^ Isa. It. 3. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, y^ 

voice ; '^ ^ theyshall know in that day that I am He 
that doth speak.' ^ For the Spirit will unstop the 
ears of the deaf. When He thus makes us behold 
and hear, He will finish the work and enable us to 
^ set ' our wandering hearts upon all that He will 
show us. But the responsibility will still be ours to 
follow the enabling. 

It will act and react. The more we set our hearts 
the more He will show us ; and the more He shows 
us, the more our hearts will surely there be fixed. 

* ^// that I shall shew thee.' What a vista of 
revelation opens before us ! ' He shall take of Mine 
and shall shew it unto you,'^ — My love, My grace, 
My wisdom, My acts, My covenant, My goodness, 
My glory! He Svill shew thee the truth.'* He 
^ will shew thee great and mighty things, which 
thou knowest not.' ^ ' He will shew you things to 
come.'^ Do we not feel like little children, 
wondering, in delighted expectation, what it is that 
we are going to see? 

Like little children, too, we have been brought 
hither, on purpose that He may show us all this. 
* Hither,' to the very place, the very point, where 
we now are. We did not come of ourselves ; we 
were 'brought.' Very likely we should have gone 
to some other place, and aimed at some other point. 
But He brought us hither with gracious intent of 
revelation. It may have been a stiff climb up the 
^ very high mountain ; '"^ but who minds that, if they 
really believe in the promised view ? 

IJohnx. i6. 2 Isa, Hi. 6. SJohnxvi. 15. 

* Ps. xvii. 7; ib. ciii. 7; ib. xxv. 14 ; Ex. xxxiii. 18, 19 ; Dan. xi. «• 
6 Jer. xxxiii. 3. 6 John xvi. 13. 7 Ezek. xl. 2. 



So MORNING THOUGHTS, 

As commands always lead up to privileges, so 
privileges again lead on to further commands. Not 
for ourselves alone are we to ' see ' and ' hear.' We 
are to declare all that we see.^ When we have seen 
the house, we are to * shew the house. '^ When we 
have seen the Saviour, we are to make known abroad 
the saying which was told us concerning Him.^ 
When we have seen the King, we are to * tell it out ' 
that He reigneth. ^ Hear with thine ears, and go 
. . . and speak.'* ^ What I tell you in darkness, 
that speak ye in light.' ^ 

Do not let us begin quibbling about how much 
we can tell, or how much we ought to tell. Let us 
very simply and very humbly bow before this ^ His 
commandment,' and ask Him to enable us to obey 
it exactly as He means us to obey it, neither losing 
the spirit in the letter nor ignoring the letter in the 
spirit.^ 

Lord, speak to me, that I may speak 

In living echoes of Thy tone ; 
As thou hast sought, so let me seek 

Thy erring children, lost and lone. 

Oh teach me, Lord, that I may teach 
The precious things Thou dost impart; 

And wing my words that they may reach 
The hidden depths of many a heart. 

Oh fill me with Thy fulness, Lord, 

Until my very heart o'erflow, 
In kindling thought and glowing word, 

Thy love to tell, Thy praise to show. 

1 1 John i. 3. 2 Ezek. xliii. 10. 3 Luke ii. 17. 

4 Ezek. iii. 10, 11. ^ Matt. x. 27. ^ 2 Cor. iv. 13. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. gj 



TWENTY-THIRD DAY. 



^ellina of tbe 1ban^ of (5o^. 

*Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good 
upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto 
me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they 
strengthened their hands for this good work.' — Neh. fl. 1 8. 

*T^HEN they that feared the Lord spake often 
A one to another.'^ Yet many hold back from 
what they call ^talking about religion/ under 
colour that they fear it too often leads to talking 
about self. And yet, what about the general con- 
versation which is about * other things/^ not ^ the 
things which are Jesus Christ's ' ?^ Are the ^ other 
things' free from self and wholly profitable? Is it 
^ with grace, seasoned with salt ' ? Yet this is what 
we are commanded that our speech should ^ always * 
be.* 

Let us lay aside this unscriptural notion of * talk- 
ing about religion,' which may only be controversy 
and criticism, and see what our Lord would have us 
talk about. The sum of our conversation should be, 
as recorded of Anna, ' She . . . spake of Him.'^ 

1 Mai. iii. i6. 2 Mark iv. 19. 3 Phil. ii. 21. 

* Job. XV. 3; Col. iv. 6. 6 Luke ii. 38. 



82 MORNING THOUGHTS, 

Here is our keynote, and what wealth of melody 
and fulness of harmony spring from it ! — the melo- 
dies of His word ^ in linked sweetness, long drawn 
out,* for the right hand; the harmonies of His 
works, in <sver-varying marvels, for the left. Why, 
we have topics for all eternity, much more for our 
occasional hours and minutes of converse, unfold- 
ing more and more as we receive more and more of 
His fulness ! 

But there is the point. If we do not want to 
^ speak of Him/^ let us beware of plausibly persuad- 
ing ourselves that it is because we do not want to 
speak about ourselves. Let us be honest, and own 
that the vessel does not overflow because it is not 
very full of faith and love.* Christ said, ^Out of 
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.'^ 
Men say, * No such thing! one does not speak 
when one's heart is full ! ' Yet ^ let God be true, 
but every man a liar,'* and let us see whether our 
unwillingness to speak of Him does not arise from 
our having nothing to say. 

Nehemiah had something to tell. * I told them of 
the hand of my God which was good upon me.'* 
Nothing about his * own arm,' but * Thy right hand 
and Thine arm,' and what that had done, the won- 
derful answer to his prayer, and the way made plain 
before his face.^ And see how it stirred up his 
listeners forthwith ! They said, * Let us rise up and 
build. So they strengthened their hands for thi<.; 
good work.'^ Have we nothing to tell to those 

1 John i. i6. 2 Eccles. xi. 3. ^ Matt. xii. %^ 

4 Rom. iii. 4. 6 Neh. ii. i&. 

* Ps. xliv. 3 ; Neh. i. 10; ib. ii. 4, 8. ^ Neh. ii. i8» 



AWRNING THOUGirrS. 83 

whom we meet this day of what the hand of our 
God has done?^ 

David said, 'Come and hear, . . . and I will 
declare what He hath done for my soul; '^ and no 
doubt then, as now, the story of His gracious doings 
resulted in stimulus and blessing to other souls. 
When thus 'confession with the mouth is made/ it 
is very, very often 'unto salvation ^^ for the listeners. 

We must first know and 'consider how great 
things He hath done for* us;* and then the voice 
of Jesus says not only 'Shew,* but ^ Tell how great 
things the Lord hath done for thee,'^ that thus show- 
ing, and thus telling, ' the communication of thy 
faith may become effectual by the acknowledging 
of every good thing which is in you in Christ 
Jesus.'® 

We have also less personal but not less vivid testi- 
mony to bear. ' The Lord hath done great things 
for us, whereof we are glad/^ will put a new song 
in many another's mouth, ^ and confirm their faith 
in the living God. Thus did Moses, and the result 
was not only that Jethro rejoiced for all the good- 
ness which the Lord had done,^ but that he rose to 
the grand confession, ^ Now I know that Jehovah is 
greater than all gods.'^^ 

It is not to be only a one-sided telling, but a free 
and pleasant interchange ; for we are distinctly 
commanded, ' Talk ye of all His wondrous works.* 
Who can exhaust that 'air /^^ While we 'talk 
together of all these things, '^^ communing together 

1 Ps. Ixxvii. 12. 2 Ps, Ixvi. 16. 3 Rom. x. 10. 

* X Sam. xii. 24. 6 Mark v. 19 ; Luke viii. 39. * Philem. 6, 

7 Ps. cxxvi. 3. 8 Ps. xl. 3. s Ex. xviii. 8. 

W Ex. xviii. II. 11 Ps. cv. 2; ib. Ixxvii. 12. 12 Luke xxiv. X4« 



84 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

like the disciples on the Emmaus road, how often 
does Jesus Himself draw near and go with us ! I 
think He always does, only our eyes are not always 
open to recognize Him. Verily, in keeping of this 
commandment (and it is a commandment), * there 
is ^r<f a/ reward/^ 

' Make me to understand the way of Thy pre- 
cepts : so shall I talk of Thy wondrous works.' 

Have you not a word for Jesus ? not a word to say for Him ? 
He is listening through the chorus of the burning seraphim ! 
He is listening ; does He hear you speaking of the things of 

earth, 
Only of its passing pleasure, selfish sorrow, empty mirth ? 
He has spoken words of blessing, pardon, peace, and love to 

you, 
Glorious hopes and gracious comfort, strong and tender, sweet 

and true ; 
Does He hear you telling others something of His love untold, 
Overflowings of thanksgiving for His mercies manifold ? 

1 Ps. xix. II ; ib. cxix. 27. 



MORNING I'HO UGIITS. 



85 



TWENTY-FOURTH DAY. 



XTeUing of tbe lkina'0 Morbe. 

'Then I told them of . . . the king's words that he had 
spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise u|d and build. So 
they strengthened their hands for this good work.' — Neh. 
ii. i8. 

HOW naturally we should not only treasure, but 
iell^ any royal words spoken to ourselves! 
They would be more to us than any other utterances, 
and they would ensure the interest of our listeners. 
How natural for Nehemiah to tell of the king's 
words which he had spoken unto him, though only 
an earthly and alien sovereign ! 

Now, ought it not to be just as natural, delightful, 
and interesting to tell of the words of our own, our 
heavenly King, especially when He has commanded, 
* He that hath My word, let him speak my word 
faithfully*?^ Not that we can ever tell all that 
passes in the secret audience chamber ; nor would 
it be well that we should try to do so : for * the 
secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.'^ 
The King has gifts for us with shining inscriptions 
which ^ no man knoweth saving he that receiveth * * 
them, whispers which cannot resound in words. 

* Jcr. xxiii. 28. 2 Ps. xxv. 14. 8 Rev. ii. 17; Prov. xvii.8. 



36 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

But very much, perhaps most, of His gracious 
communications to the soul come in the very form 
which is most easily grasped, remembered, and re- 
peated — His own written words brought to 
our remembrance by His good Spirit, and 
applied to our conscious or unconscious need.'^ 
Do not let us give our own memories the credit, in- 
stead of giving Him the praise, when He so kindly 
sends any of His own words freshly and forcibly 
into our minds. Have we not often defrauded 
Him of the glory due unto His name^ in this 
matter, by mistaking His voice for our mere obser- 
vation or recollection? 

Now it is these words of the King, spoken to our 
hearts as they are not spoken to the world, which 
we may profitably tell others, thus becoming * the 
Lord's messenger in the Lord's message,'^ and 
spreading the knowledge of His words. Nehemiah 
did not tell of the king's words which he had 
spoken unto somebody else, but ' which He had 
spoken unto me.^ So, if we would tell the 
King's words, we must first hear them. Ask that, 
like Ezekiel, the Spirit may enter into us when 
He speaks unto us, so that we may hear Him 
that speaks unto us.* 'These words shall be 
in thine heart ; ' ^ and then, after that, comes the 
command : ^ Talk of them when thou sittest 
in thine house, and when thou walkest by 
the way.' ^ 

Watch to see what He will say,^ and no fear but 

1 John xiv. 26; Acts xx. 35. 2 Ps. xxix. 2. 3 Hag. i. 13. 
< Ezek. iii. 10. ^ Deut. vi. 6. 6 Deut. vi. 7, 

t Hab. ii. i. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



87 



that His words will be heard, and that more and 
more. For it is when He hath spoken unto us that 
we shall be strengthened, and say, ' Let my Lord 
speak. '^ And then He will say more to us, and 
show us ' that which is noted in the Scripture of 
truth. '2 

It seems a truism to say that this telling of the 
King's words will be ever so much more useful and 
resultful than our own words. Yet do we always act 
upon this? When we try to * speak a word for 
Jesus '^ to a friend, does it not sometimes seem as if 
we were a little * ashamed of His words ' ? * Is there 
not sometimes a little shrinking from giving a text ? 
Has it not seemed an easier course to talk about a 
sermon ? If we have visited a cottage, have we not 
sometimes thought our duty discharged by a little 
general good advice and kindly sympathy, and not 
always * told them of the King's words,' w^hich are 
spirit and life,^ and which should not have returned 
void^ — seed words, by which dead souls might have 
been born again; ^ sincere milk,' by which babes 
in Christ might * grow ' ?^ 

Surely there is no more precious talent entrusted 
to us,® none with which we may trade with more 
certain success and splendid increase, than these 
words of our King. What we hear from Him let 
us commit to others, ' that they may be able to 
teach others also.' ^ A simple text thus passed on 
(and who cannot do this!) may be the immediate 
means of wonderful spiritual help and quickening, 

1 Dan. 5C. 19. 2 Dan. x. 21. 3 Jer. xxiii. 28, 

4 Mark viii. 38. ^ John vi. 63. ^ Xsa. Iv. 11. 

' I Pet. i. 23 ; ib. ii. 3. ^ Matt. xxv. 16. ^ 2 Tim. ii. s. 



88 MORNING THOUGHTS, 

and * the comfort wherewith we ourselves are com- 
forted of God ' (not some otherwise concocted 
comfort) may comfort many * which are in any 
trouble/^ without even one word of man as its 
vehicle. 

Yes, we have a word for Jesus ! Living echoes we will be 
Of Thine own sweet words of blessing, of Thy gracious 

* Come to Me.' 
Jesus, Master ! yes, we love Thee, and to prove our love would 

lay 
Fruit of lips which Thou wilt open, at Thy blessed feet to-day. 
Many an effort it may cost us, many a heart-beat, many a fear. 
But Thou knowest, and will strengthen, and Thy help is always 

near. 
Give us grace to follow fully, vanquishing our faithless shame, 
Feebly it may be, but truly, witnessing for Thy dear name. 



TWENTY-FIFTH DAY. 



jevil Speaking. 

• Speak not evil one of another, brethren.' — ^Jas. iv. 1 1. 

ONE of the most difficult of 'His command- 
ments/^ and yet one which is in a peculiar 
degree 'for our good' and personal happiness, as 
well as for those around us ! The more difficult, the 
more need of grace ; and the more need, the more 
the full supply.^ 

1 a Cor. i. 4, 2 Deut. x. 13. » 2 Cor. xii. 9 ; Phil. iv. 19. 



MOAWIiVG THOUGHTS. 



89 

Well might St. Paul say, ^ Put them in mind to 
speak evil of no nian/^ for do we not easily fail to 
keep this in mind ? The command is ' exceeding 
broad ;'^ let us not seek to narrow it, but humbly 
bow to our Master's distinct orders in all their ex- 
actness. 

Do we really wish to know them fully, that we 
may obey fully ? Then what are they ? ' Speak evil 
of no man.'^ Shall we venture practically to say, 
*Yes, Lord, except oi So-and-so'? 

* Laying aside all evil speakings.'* Does not this 
include the very least ? 

'Let all bitterness, . . . and evil speaking, be 
put away from you ;'^ then does He give us leave to 
cherish even one little hidden root of that bitter- 
ness from which the evil speaking springs ? ^ 

' Put away ' implies resolute action in the mat- 
ter, — have we even tried to ' put away air ? 

But this great clause of the 'royal law'^ is 
broader still: *Let none of you imagine evil in 
your hearts against his neighbour.'® And the 
characteristic of that charity, without which we are 
only 'sounding brass' and 'nothing,' is, that it 
'thinketh no evil.'^ Is not this the root from which 
the far-poisoning fruit springs? We have first diso- 
beyed another order: 'Whatsoever things are of 
good report; . . . think on these things. '^^ 
Instead of that, we ' think ' about the bad reports 
that we may have heard ; we develop the unkind 



1 Titus iii. 2. 2 Ps. cxix. 96. 3 Titus iii. 2. 

^ I Pet. ii. I. 5 Eph. iv. 31. 6 Heb. xii. ig. 

7 Jab. ii. 8. 8 Zech. vii. 10; ib. viii. 17. 

• 1 Cor. xiii. 1 ; ib. xiii, 2 ; ib. xiii. 5. 10 phil. iv. I. 



90 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



hint into suspicion, and perhaps into accusation, by 
thinking about it, instead of thinking on and think- 
ing out the probable ' other side ' of the case. 
This thinking has tempted us not to * refrain our 
tongue;'^ and thus we have set some one else 
' thinking,' and thereby to more speaking evil one 
of another. At last the little fire has kindled a 
great matter,^ and we come ourselves and bring 
others under the condemnation of taking up *a 
reproach against his neighbour,'^ instead of not 
enduring nor receiving it (see the striking mar« 
ginal reading). And what is the just penalty 
annexed by implication ? Not to abide in His taber- 
nacle, not to dwell in His holy hill !* 

How very often we speak evil of things which we, 
more or less, ^understand not '^ — ah, even of 
*■ things which they know not ' ! ^ — instead of obey- 
ing another part of the royal law, ' Judge nothing 
before the time, until the Lord come,'^ when the 
very person whom we have been condemning shall 
' have praise of God ! * This often arises from diso- 
bedience to two other plain commands : ' Debate 
thy cause with thy neighbour himself, and discover 
not a secret to another :'^ and, ^ go and tell him his 
fault between thee and him alone,'^ Yet away we 
go, and tell somebody else about it instead ! 

Let us guard against the negative form of evil 
speaking, generally the most dangerous and cruel, 
even when the most thoughtless. Absalom was ex- 
tremely clever in this. Who could quote any actual 

1 1 Pet. iii. lo. 2 Jas. iii. 5. 3 Ps. xv. 3. 

^ Ps. XV. I. 62 Pet. ii. 12. 6 Jude 10. 

' I Cor. iii. 5. 8 Prov. xxv. 9. 9 Matt, xviii. 15. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 



91 



evil speaking against his royal father?^ Who could 
charge him with speaking evil of dignities ? ^ And 
yet by insinuation, by his way of putting things, by 
his very manner, he wrought a thousand-fold more 
cruel harm than any amount of speaking out could 
possibly have done. Oh to be watchful as to such 
omissions to speak well, as amount to speaking evil ! 
watchful as to the eloquence of even a hesitation, 
watchful as to the forcible language of feature and 
eye! 

Of course the question arises : ^ But what about 
cases in which wrong-doing must be spoken of for 
the sake of truth and justice?' Clear as crystal are 
our instructions here : i. We are to speak ^the 
truth. '^ The truth, not such part of it as will best 
prove our case, and nothing else! Not what we 
suppose to be the truth. 2. 'In love.' Does all our 
testimony stand this test? 3. *In the name of the 
Lord Jesus.'* Would not this check many a word 
against another ? 4. 'To the glory of God. '^ Fail- 
ure in any one of these four rules brings us in 
guilty of sin. Oh may He give us grace to keep our 
heart with all diligence,^ and Himself set a watch 
this day before our mouth, and keep the door of our 
lips ! ^ May we cease to ' reason with unprofitable 
talk, or with speeches wherewith we can do no 
good:^ 

Take my lips, and let them be 
Filled with messages from Thee. 

1 2 Sam. XV. 3-5. 2 2 Pet. ii. lo. • Eph. iv. 15. 

< Col. iii. 17. 6 I Cor. x. 31, « PrOVi iVi 83* 

»Ps.cxli.3. 8 Job XV. 4. 



92 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



TWENTY-SIXTH DAY. 



IbinbeririG, 

*Lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.' — i Cor. ix. 12. 

MANY an active and willing helper in the 
Church is too often an unconscious hinderer 
of the gospel. Let us each try to find out how we 
may have hindered, that we may do so no more. 

A vexation arises, and our expressions of impa- 
tience hinder others from taking it patiently. Dis- 
appointment, ailment, or even weather depresses 
us ; and our look or tone of depression hinders 
others from maintaining a cheerful and thankful 
spirit. We let out a fearing or discouraged remark, 
and another's hope and zeal is wet-blanketed. 
*What man is there that is fearful and faint- 
hearted ? let him go and return unto his house, lest 
his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart/ ^ 

We say an unkind thing, ^ and another is hindered 
in learning the holy lesson of charity that thinketk 
no evil.^ We say a provoking thing,* and our sister 
or brother is hindered in that day's effort to be 
meek. ' Make straight paths iox your feet, lest that 
which is lame be turned out of the way.'^ 

1 Deut. XX. 8; Judg. vii. 3. ^ Jas. iv. 11. 

* X Cor. xiii. 5. 4 Jas. i. 26. 5 Heb. xii. 13. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 



93 



We yield an inch in some doubtful matter, and 
another is emboldened to take an ell. We do an 
inexpedient thing, and another improves upon the 
supposed example, and feels justified in doing an 
unlawful thing. ^ ^ Abstain from all appearance of 
evil/^ ' Let not your good be evil spoken of.'^ 

We miss an opportunity of speaking *a word for 
Jesus ; * and our pleasant, commonplace talk has 
checked a half-formed wish for something better, 
and hindered the light of the glorious gospel from 
shining into a heart.* We do not heed the thought- 
ful look on some household face just after family 
prayer or public worship, and our needless cha.t 
about ^ earthly things '^ acts the fowls of the air. 
We make a critical remark about a preacher or 
writer, and it is brought back by the enemy in 
swift temptation, at the very moment when a word 
in season was about to find entrance.® * Them that 
were entering in, ye hindered.'^ Oh, terrible con- 
demnation ! ^ Let not those that seek Thee be con- 
founded for my sake.'^ 

We need, too, to be shown whether we are quite 
unconsciously hindering in even lesser ways; for 
many have little peculiarities, of which they are 
hardly or not at all aware, which nevertheless 
annoy, fidget, depress, or chill those with whom 
they have much intercourse, and thus hinder the 
calm reign of peace in their spirits. * Let not 
them that wait on Thee, O Lord God of hosts, be 
ashamed for my sake.*^ 



^ I Cor. X. 23 ; lb. viii. 13. 2 j Thess. v. 22. ^ Rom. xiv. 16. 

* 2 Cor. iv. 4. 5 Phil. iii. 19 ; Matt. xiii. 4. 

*Ps. cxLx. 130. 7 Luk« xi. 52. 8 Ps, Ixix. 6, * P». Ixix. 6. 



g4 MORNING THOUGH IS. 

How sadly, too, we may hinder without word or 
«ict ! For wrong feeling is more infectious than 
wrong-doing ; especially the various phases of ill- 
temper — gloominess, touchiness, discontent, irrita- 
bility, — do we not know how catching these are ? 
If the Lord asked us, ' Wherefore discourage ye the 
heart of the children of Israel ' in this way, should 
we not be utterly without excuse ?^ What if he 
asked each hindered one, * Who did hinder you ? '^ 
— are our consciences sure that our names would 
escape mention ? 

Shall we not watch and pray that this day we 
may only help and not hinder in the least thing, 
and that no one may have virtually to say to us, 
* Hinder me not ' !^ May we never be the helpers 
of the great hinderer ! When * Satan hindered ' 
St. Paul, he probably found human agents/ 

Let us ask that the Lord Jesus would so perfectly 
tune our spirits to the key-note of His exceeding 
great love,^ that all our unconscious influence may 
breathe only of that love, and help all with whom 
we come in contact to obey the gospel of our Lord 
Jesus Christ.® * And let us consider one another, to 
provoke unto love and to good works. '^ 

1 Num. xxxii. 7. 2 Gal. v. 7. 3 Gen. xxiv. 56. 

4 I Thess. ii. 18. » 2 Cor. iv. 10. ^ , Thess. i. 8. 

V Heb. X, 24. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. gj 



TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY. 



Strenotbenina 1ban^0. 

* Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble 
knees/ — IsA. xxxv. 3. 

*T TE that is not with Me is against Me : and he 
-Tl that gathereth not with Me scattereth. '^ So it 
is not enough merely not to hinder ; we must help : 
for not helping generally amounts to hindering. 
Perhaps we tried yesterday not to be hinderers ; to- 
day let us *■ go on to completeness/ and try to be 
helpers.^ 

'Strengthen ye the weak hands.' Plenty of these 
around us ; for where is one real worker who does 
not feel his weakness, even in very proportion to 
what seems to us his strength ? ^ It does not the least 
follow that those who are altogether much stronger 
than ourselves are not perhaps realizing their weak- 
ness much more.* We ' should not think of such a 
thing' as aiming to strengthen their hands, and so 
very much mutual ministry is left undone. A little 
child may strengthen the hands of a giant and 
veteran in the faith, and it is just the giants and 



1 Luke xi. 23. 2 Hcb. vi. 1 (Gr.). 

* 2 Cor. xii. X. 4 i Cor. ii. 3, 



96 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 



veterans who do not'^dCY to the more feeble members, 
* I have no need of you. ' ^ 

' David sent to comfort Hanun by the hand of his 
servants.'^ St. Paul received the comfort of God 
by the coming of Titus, his ' own son ' in the faith f 
and he seems to have had a great deal of both com- 
fort and joy (which certainly are most strengthen- 
ing), at second hand, by the ^ fervent mind toward ' 
him of the Corinthians, so that ^ exceedingly the 
more joyed we.'^ 

Again, those very near us often need strengthen- 
ing ; are we right if they have practically to look 
farther for the strengthening which it might be ours 
to give? There may be a spiritual application of 
providing specially for those of our own house.^ 

Again, are there not sometimes such very * weak 
hands,'® that we almost get tired of trying to 
strengthen them, and feel inclined to think it is no 
use dealing with such hopeless feebleness ? What 
if our Master did this to us ? 

How shall we set about it ? First, by prayer, as 
Aaron and Hur held up the hands of Moses. ^ 
^ Helping together by prayer.'^ This reaches all. 
Who knows how much of the weakness of hands, 
which distresses or even annoys us, may be laid at 
our door because we talked about it instead of pray- 
ing about it? Very likely, names will occur to us 
now ; then take those names at once to the Mighty 
One, and ask Him this morning to strengthen those 
weak hands and confirm those feeble knees.^ 



1 1 Cor. xii. 21, 22. 2 2 Sam. x. 2. 3 2 Cor. vii. 6 ; Titus i. 4. 

* 2 Cor. vii. 7. ^ I Tim. v. 8. 6 Rom. xv. i. 

' Ex. xvii. i». 8 2 Cor, i. 11, « Jas. v. 16. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. gy 

Secondly, by personal contact, I suppose we 
never come in contact with one who is really strong 
in the Lord ^ without being strengthened, whether 
we feel it or not. But we should not be content 
with the unconscious influence which it is our sin- 
gular privilege to radiate. * Jonathan arose, and 
went to David in the wood, and strengthened his 
hand in God.'^ Arising always implies a little 
effort. Then make it ! What are our orders ? 

* Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your 
God.' ^ How are we to do it ? ' Speak ye to the 
heart of Jerusalem.' * What comes from the heart 
goes to the heart. ^ Speak ;^ don't hint and beat 
about the bush. When the arrow is feathered with 
love and weighted with wisdom, it must fly straight. 
What are we to say ? ' Say ... Be strong, fear 
not ; behold, your God will come with vengeance, 
even God with a recompense ; He will come and 
save you.' ^ * Cry unto her, that her warfare is ac- 
complished, that her iniquity is pardoned.'^ Ex- 
amine these two wonderful messages, and see if they 
do not actually include everything required for 
your fulfilment of this commandment. You may 
amplify them, but that is all. Take with you His 
words, and then you may say without presumption, 

* I would strengthen you with my mouth.' ^ 

Before we can really lift up other hands, our own 
must have been lifted up by His good Spirit,^ and 
our own feeble knees must have been confirmed by 
much bowing at His footstool.^ ^ When ihotc art 

^ Eph. vi. lo. 2 1 Sam. xxiii. 16. SJsa. xl. i. 

^ Isa. xl. 2, margin, ^ Isa. xxxv. 4. ® Isa. xl. 2. 

' Job xvi. 5. « Hcb. xil 12, 13. • Eph. iii. 13, xi. 



gg MORNING THOUGHTS, 

converted, strengthen thy brethren/^ ^Uphold 
me with Thy free Spirit. Then will I teach.' ^ It 
is the climax of the grand procession of promises 
in that magnificent close of the words of Eliphaz. 
If we acquaint ourselves with God,^ receive His 
kw, return to Him, and put away iniquity, then 
*when men are cast down, then thou shalt say, 
There is lifting up/* 

May our record on high be : ' Thou hast strength- 
ened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden 
him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened 
the feeble knees. ' 

Oh lead me, Lord, that I may lead 
The wandering and the wavering feet; 

Oh feed me, Lord, that I may feed 

Thy hungering ones with manna sweet. 

Oh strengthen me, that while I stand 
Firm on the Rock, and strong in Thee, 

I may stretch out a loving hand 
To wrestlers with the troubled sea. 

1 Luke xxii. 32. 2 Ps. H. 12, ij, 

«Job xxii. 2i-«9. 4 Job iv. 4, 



MORNING THOUGHTS. qq 



TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY. 



Seeding to jeyceU 

*Seek that ye may excel/ — i Cor. xiv. 12. 

AN almost startling command ; yet it is addressed 
to ' all that in every place call upon the 
name of Jesus Christ our Lord,'^ therefore unmis- 
takably to ourselves. 

Very likely our thoughts have been quite differ- 
ent from God's thoughts about ii.^ We have been 
thinking it was useless to seek to excel, because we 
saw no likelihood of doing so ; that it was pre- 
sumptuous to think of such a thing ; that it was 
even positively wrong to aim at it ; yet, all the time, 
there the commandment stood, ' Seek that ye may 
excel ! ' 

For its right fulfilment, there must be one pre- 
liminary and one object. The preliminary is, that 
we must be ^ zealous of spiritual gifts. '^ It is only 
when we are coveting earnestly the best gifts* that 
the exercise and development of all others comes in 
its right place ; that is, we must be eagerly desiring 
and heartily striving and using His own means to 

1 I Cor. i. 2. 2 Isa. Iv. 8. 

« I Cor. xiv. 12, 4 I Cor. xii. 31. 



lOO MORNING THOUGHTS, 

grow in grace/ to receive always more and more 
of His fulness/ more light and love, more faith and 
power, more, above all, of His Spirit. 

Even when this is the case, how often we set 
some human standard before us, and say : * Ah ! if 
I only had half as much grace as So-and-so ! ' 
Comparing ourselves among ourselves, we are not 
wise j^ it is a fruitful source of limitation and hind- 
rance. We are not to aim at ^ half as much grace,' 
nor even as much, but at excelling the fair self- 
chosen standard, which after all is so far below the 
* exceeding abundantly'* which He is able to do for 
us. Let us give it up, once for all, and strike out 
into God's more excellent way, and ^seek to 
excel. '^ Let us open our mouth wide that He may 
fill it,^ asking for such great gifts that His royal 
bounty may be magnified because of our very 
poverty ; ^ asking for such excellency of power that 
it may be seen to be of Him and not of us / ask- 
ing that He would so fulfil all the good pleasure of 
His goodness, that the name of our Lord Jesus 
Christ may be glorified in us.^ 

Then, the one object. ^ Seekest thou great things 
for thyself? seek them not.'^^ But ^seek that ye 
may excel to the edifying of the Church. ' 

Apart from this, seeking to excel would inevitably 
become sin. Emulation, ambition, pride, would 
come in like a flood; envying and strife would 
follow, ^ leading to confusion and every evil work.'^^ 
*A11 things edify not/ — should not this guide the 

1 I Pet. ii. 2 ; 2 Pet. iii. 18. 2 John i. 16. 3 2 Cor. x. 12. 

■* Eph. iii. 20. 5 I Cor. xii. 31. ^ Ps. Ixxxi. 10, 

"i 2 Cor. ix. II. 8 2 Cor. iv. 7. ^ 2 Thess. i. 11, Z9, 

* 4cr. xlv, 5, 11 Jas. iii. 16 ; i Cor. x. 23. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. loi 

directions in which we seek to excel? For this end 
only let every good gift/ spiritual or mental, in- 
ward or even outward, be continually cultivated and 
carefully used. Let us this day and henceforth aim 
at nothing lower. 

Perhaps He grants us power to excel in some 
seemingly very little things, some little peculiar 
gifts which we don't think much of. ' He that is 
faithful in that which is least, '^^ will be enabled to 
use even that for the edifying of some part of the 
Church. Those who have no hand in raising the 
strong pillars, may yet be called to give a delicate 
touch to the lily work which shall crown them.^ 
' To every man his work ;'* and in that, even if it is 
only running little errands for the skilled workmen, 
we may excel to the edifying of the Church. 

There are * diversities of gifts, '^ but none are 
without any. 'Every man hath his proper gift of 
God, one after this manner, and another after 
that.*^ If we think it humble to profess, or are 
humble enough really to believe, that we have but 
the * one talent,'^ that is the more reason why we 
should eagerly make the very most of it for our 
Lord ; for if it is only one, it is not our own, but 
*our Lord^s money.' 

1 Jas. i. 17. 2 Luke xvi. 10. 3 i Kings vii. a*. 

4 Mark xiii. 34. ^ i Cor. xii. 4. i Cor. vii, 7. 

7 Matt. XXV. 15. 



I02 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



TWENTY-NINTH DAY. 



Mbat tbe Mill of tbe Xorb is. 

* Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the 
will of the Lord is.' — Eph. v. 17. 

ARE we not apt to connect the thoughts of 
God^s will with efforts to submit to what is 
not very pleasant to us ? Is this fair^ when all that 
He Himself tells us of His will should make us love 
and admire and rejoice in it ? Truly our thoughts 
are not His thoughts^ about it, or there would not 
be so many a sigh over that glorious petition, ^ Thy 
will be done. '* 

Let us see what He says it is, for He hath ^ made 
known unto us the mystery of His will;'^ and in 
proportion as we are filled with the knowledge 
of it, shall we walk worthy of the Lord unto all 
pleasing.** 

I . It was the good pleasure of His will to predes- 
tinate us unto the adoption of children,^ that we 
should be His own ' sons and daughters,' His own 
*dear children.'^ And if He had told us no more 
than this, ought not *• Thy will be done ' to peal 

1 Isa. Iv. 8. 2 Matt. vi. 10. 8 Eph. i. 9. 

4 Col. i. 9 ; ib. i. 10. * Eph. i. 5. 62 Cor. vi. 18 ; Eph. v. x. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 



103 



forth as an ^Amen chorus* from all His adopted 
ones? 

2. It was the will of God our Father that the 
Lord Jesus Christ should give Himself for our sins, 

* that He might deliver us from this present evil 
world. '^ Jesus said, * Lo, I come to do Thy will,' 
O God,' and ' gave Himself for us, that He might 
redeem us from all iniquity/^ And day by day He 
is delivering those who believe that He * doth de- 
liver,' and 'trust that He will yet deliver/* for this 
is *the will of the Lord/ 

3. Bythiswill we are sanctified.^ Sanctification is 
the continual fulfilling of the good pleasure of His 
goodness in us. It is the making us partakers of 
His holiness and of the divine nature itself. It is 
making us like Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may 
be manifest even in our mortal flesh. ^ It is grant- 
ing the desire, the thirst of thirsts, of every 
renewed heart. ^ And ' this is the will of God, even 
your sanctification !'® 

4. It is the will of God in Christ Jesus concern- 
ing us, that in every thing we should give thanks, 

* always for all things.'^ This implies a life full of 
cause for praise, and full of power to praise ; — can 
any one describe a brighter ideal ? Yet this is the 
will of God concerning j^^. 

5. Perishing, failing, dying, — how the very words 
' everlasting life '^^ shine out to us in the darkness ! 
a resplendent gift purchased for us by the one trans^ 
cendent gift of God !^^ It includes everlasting 

3 Titus ii. 14. 
« 2 Cor. iv. xz. 
» Eph. y. ao. 



» Gal. i. 4. 


2 Heb. X. 9. 


* 2 Cor. i. 10. 


* Heb. X. 10. 


» Matt. V. 6. 


* I Thess. iv. 3. 


t^Johnui. 16. 


w a Cor. ix. 15. 



I04 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

salvation, light, joy, love, glory; and it is for every 
one * which seeth the Son and believeth on Him :' 
for Jesus says, * This is the will of Him that sent 
Me.'^ 

6. Is not this enough ? is there yet a misgiving 
and a haunting fear lest we should lose this great 
gift ? Again the glorious will of God is our security : 
for, though our numb hand might let it slip, we are 
ourselves in the grasp of a Hand which holds us 
and our eternal life too ; for, of all which the 
Father hath given Him, He * shall lose nothing,'^ 
^not the least grain shall fall upon the earth,* not 
you, not I: for ' this is the Father's will.'^ 

7. Now for the climax; and this time it is the 
Son, our own Lord Jesus Christ, who tells His 
Father that He is one with Him, and then, in His 
own divine name, declares His divine will :* 'I will 
that they also whom Thou hast given Me, be with 
Me where I am. '^ This is the consummation of His 
will concerning us, that we should be for ever with 
the Lord !^ Shall we like ^strangers'*' ^submit to 
this' ? Shall we bow to this? Shall we dare to sigh 
over *Thy will be done'? Shall we not rather 
^submit ourselves wholly to His holy will and pleas- 
ure,'^ bow under the very load of the benefits of 
His will in deepest adoration and intensest thanks- 
giving, and not wait for * the happier shore,' but 
here and now sing out of the abundance of a simply 
believing heart, ^ Thy will be done'?^ For truly it 
is ^ good will to men;' and may we be so * trans- 

1 John vi. 40. 2 John vi. 39. 3 Amos ix. 9. 

4 John xvii. 22. 5 John xvii. 24. « i Thess. iv. 17. 

^ Ps. xviii. 44. 8 Ps. Ixviii. 19. ® Luke ii. 14. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



105 



formed by the renewing of our minds/ that we may 
daily and joyfully ' prove what is that good, and 
acceptable, and perfect will of God/^ 

With quivering heart and trembling will 

The word hath passed thy Hps, 
Within the shadow, cold and still, 

Of some fair joy's eclipse. 
*■ Thy will be done ! ' Thy God hath heard. 
And He will crown that faith-framed word. 

Thy prayer shall be fulfilled, — but how ? 

His thoughts are not as thine; 
While thou wouldst only weep and bow, 

He saith, * Arise and shine ! * 
Thy thoughts were all of grief and night, 
But His of boundless joy and light. 

Thy Father reigns supreme above ; 

The glory of His name 
Is Grace and Wisdom, Truth and Love, 

His will must be the same. 
And thou hast asked all joys in one, 
In whispering forth, * Thy will be done I ' 

1 Rom. xii. 2. 



I06 MORNING THOUGHTS. 



THIRTIETH DAY 



1bi0 Xast Comman^ment♦ 

* This do in remembrance of me.' — Luke xxii. 19. 

HIS last commandment ! Do we not desire to 
obey it in its very fullest meaning, to do ex- 
actly what He meant us to do, and all that He 
meant us to do in it?^ Let us pray that He may 
open our eyes to behold wondrous things in it, and 
enable us to rise through the letter to the spirit.^ 

It is not simply ^ This do,"* We may obey so far 
month by month or week by week, and yet never 
once have obeyed our Lord's dying wish or fulfilled 
His desire. He said, ' This do in remembrance of 
Me. ' We cannot remember what we do not know. 
We must know the Lord Jesus Christ^ before we 
can truly remember Him at His table ; for He does 
not say that we are to do it in remembrance of what 
He said, or even of what He did. That is quite a 
different thing. We may remember what we have 
heard or read of Ridley and Latimer, and we might 
commemorate their martyrdom; but we cannot 
remember them, because we never knew them, 

1 Ps. cxix. 19. 2 John vi. 63. 3 phU. iii. 8. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, IO7 

except as matter of history. But we know the 
Lord Jesus Christ as we know no man after the 
flesii.^ ^ We do know that we know Him,'^ and 
*the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ '^ is our very life ; it is the joy with which no 
stranger intermeddleth.* 

Without this personal knowledge of Him, there 
can be no true remembrance of Him in the Luid's 
Supper. Let us seek to * know Him/ so ti.at we 
may be able to remember Him ; then the swtc t re- 
membrance of Himself^ and His exceeding great 
love: will include remembrance of the worcs and 
ways of the Lord Jesus f then it will arouse our love 
into a vivid reality of pergonal affection ; then He 
wili draw nigh to us:^ for ^ Thou meetest Him 
that tejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that 
remember Thee in Thy ways.'® 

Have we not sometimes gone rather to get some- 
thing for ourselves than simply to remember Him ? 
and xnay not this account for some of the disap- 
pointment, which is no uncommon experience, that 
we did not run exactly in the way of His command- 
ment t^ We went to get strengthening and refresh- 
ing. We went perhaps vaguely expecting some 
peculiar manifestation of Himself, some almost 
sensible consciousness of His presence which is 
quite outside of His written promise or command. 
We went expecting something because we went, a 
sort of reward in and for the outward act. We re- 
membered our weakness, and our wants, and our 
»i « 

1 2 Cor. V. 16. 2 I John ii. 3. 82 Pet. iii. 18. 

* Prov. xiv. 10. ^ Cant. i. 4. 6 J°^" ^'^' ^^» Tts\. 4* 

' lam. iii. 57. 8 Isa. Ixiv. 5. » Ps. cxix. 32. 



I08 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

wishes, and we forgot that He commanded ^ one 
thing '■ — the remembrance of Himself, Shall we not 
ask the Holy Spirit next time to fix our hearts, so 
that the whole desire of our soul may be * to Thy 
name, and to the remembrance of Thee * ?^ 

There was no 'remembrance' in that first cele- 
bration of the Lord's Supper, that first solemn 
evening communion : for He was bodily present as 
the Master of the feast. ^ The very word was a 
shadow cast before of the time when He should ' be 
taken from them.'^ But now * the bright light 
which was in the cloud'* shines all along the dim 
waiting time, revealing ' this same Jesus ;'^ for He 
whom we specially ' remember * at His table, is 
with us 'alway,' all the days, 'the same yesterday, 
to-day, and forever.'^ He loves us now as He loved 
us when He prayed for ' all them which shall be- 
lieve on Me'^ in ' the same night in which He was 
betrayed/^ He loves us now as He loved us when 
He would not come down from the cross to save 
Himself.^ 

Love is the link between the remembrance and 
the anticipation ; for the two melt into each other, 
and form one hallowed radiance of present great 
delight. ' For as often as ye eat this bread, and 
drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till He 
come,'^^ So perhajDS some will be showing it forth 
at the very moment when He comes ! What a 
transition of unimaginable blessedness ! It is 
almost too dazzlingly beautiful to think of. 

1 Isa. xxvi. 8. 2 Mark xiv. 17; Matt. xxvi. 20; Luke xxii. 11, 

3 Matt. ix. 15. 4 Job xxxvii. 21, 5 Acts i. 11. 6 Heb. xiii. 8, 

"^ John xvii. 20. 8 i Cor, xi. 23, ^ Mark xv, 30. 

10 I Cor. xi. 26. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 



109 



Luther said : ^ I feel as if Jesus Christ died yes- 
terday.' So fresh, so vivid, be our love and thank- 
fulness ! But may we add : * And as if He were 
coming to-day ! ' Then our lives would indeed be 
rich in remembrance and radiant in anticipation,^ 
*• looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious 
appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus 
Christ ; who gave Himself for us, that He might 
redeem us from all iniquity.'^ 

According to Thy gracious word. 

In deep humility, 
This will I do, my gracious Lord, 

I will remember Thee. 

Remember Thee, and all Thy pains. 

And all Thy love to me ; 
Yes, while a breath, a pulse remains, 

Will I remember Thee. 

James Montgomuiy. 



THIRTY-FIRST DAY. 



^be (Breat 1Rcwar^» 

*ln keeping of them there is great reward.' — Ps. xix. II. 

NOT, ' Because I keep them I shall have a great 
reward ;' but 'In keeping of them there U 
great reward. * God Himself wants us to keep them, 

^ Ps. cxlv. 7. 2 Titus ii. 13, 14. 



jIQ MORNING THOUGHTS, 

because He loves us. He says : ' O that there were 
such an heart in them, that they would fear Me, 
and keep all My commandments always , that it 
might be well with them' !^ This reward is an indis- 
putable, though too often not fully recognized, fact 
of every Christian's experience. That we may have 
to keep His commandments in the very teeth of 
trial, loss, opposition, or distress does not touch 
the matter f for, nevertheless, not afterward, but in 
the keeping of His words, He takes care to keep 
His word that there shall be great reward. 

Ifthereisnot great reward, it only shows that 
there is not real keeping. The essence of true 
keeping of God's commandments is love.^ (See 
how many times keep and love are joined together 
in all parts of His word.)* Now, if we have only 
been obeying in mere form and letter, because we 
were afraid to disobey, this is nol the heart-obedience 
which is always crowned with blessings. So, if we 
cannot quite set to our seal that God is true to this 
promise,^ let us be quite sure that it is because we 
have not fulfilled His condition. And let us now, 
at once, ask Him to write His laws in our hearts,^ 
and so to shed abroad His love in us by the Holy 
Ghost,'' that we may begin at once to keep them for 
very love to our glorious Lawgiver and Mediator.® 
Then we shall know for ourselves that they are 
not grievous,^ but that they are ^for our good, 
always.''^^ 

1 Deut. V. 29. 2 Matt, xix. 29. 3 John xiv. 24, 

* Ex. XX. 6; Deut. xi. i ; John xiv. 15, etc. ^ John iii. 33. 

• Heb. viii. 10. ^ Rom. v. 5. 8 Deut. v. 27, 
» I John V. 3. 10 Deut. vi. 24. 



MORXIAu 7'IJOUGHTS. 



Ill 



Yet surely we may appeal to the experience of 
every one of the King's servants, that, however 
feeble and imperfect our obedience has been, wc do 
know something about * great reward,' \\o\. for it, 
but in it. As in the days of Hezekiah, when the 
hand of God was to give them one heart to do the 
commandment of the king, the result was great 
gladness, great joy, great blessing, and great pros- 
perity, so is it now in the spiritual reign of our 
King.^ Not outward and visible reward, though 
even that He very often adds, far more exceeding ; 
but inward and spiritual reward. 

Not in general only, but in minutest particulars. 
Having pledged Himself to this, He is 'not un- 
righteous to forget '^ the least act of Spirit-wrought 
obedience. Sometimes he puts such wonderful 
sweetness into the doing of or the refraining from 
some little thing for His sake, that we wonder 
what makes us so happy about it, and cannot but 
be conscious that it is not exactly one's mere 
natural feeling. Is not this a precious experience 
of 'great reward,' all the greater because it came 
through some very little thing? 

Let us put together into a bright bit of Bible- 
mosaic the scattered gems which are part of this 
great present reward, ' the promise of the life that 
now is,'^ the hundred-fold which we are to receive 
' now in this time' :* — i. Strength: ^ Therefore shall 
ye keep all the commandments . . . that ye may 
be strong ;*^ for ' the way of the Lord is strength to 

1 2 Chron. xxx. 12, 21, 26; ib. xxxi. 10, 21; Job xxxvi. 11. 

2 Heb. vi. 10. 3 I Tim. iv. 8. < Mark x. fo, 
* Dcut. xi. 8. 



112 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

the upright!^ 2. Safety : ^ Whoso keepeth the com- 
mandment shall feel no evil thing/^ much less be 
hurt by it! 3. Liberty : '\ will walk at liberty: 
for I seek Thy precepts.'^ Every commandment 
kept is a fetter of Satan broken by the grace and 
might of the ^stronger than he.'* 4. Peace: 
' Great peace have they that love Thy law.'^ And 
in proportion as we hearken to His commandments, 
does our peace flow as a river. ^ Disobedience dries 
it all up instantly. 5. Life and Health: Perhaps 
more literally than we suppose; for it stands to 
reason there is less friction and wear and tear even 
of our nerves and physique when we keep His peace- 
bearing commands to trust and not be afraid/ to 
be without carefulness and anxious thought.^ ' Let 
thine heart keep My commandments : for length of 
days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to 
thee/^ ' It is your life.'^^ ' It shall be health/ " ' I 
know that His commandment is life everlasting.'^' 
6. Knowledge : ' If any man will do His will, he 
shall know of the doctrine. '^^ 'If ye continue in 
My word, ... ye shall know the truth.' 7. 
Answered Prayers : ' Whatsoever we ask, we 
receive of Him, because we keep His command- 
ments.*^* 8. Gladness: Again and again we find 
this the result of seeking out and keeping the com- 
mands of God.^^ 9. The Father's Love : ' He that 
hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it 
is that loveth Me : and he that loveth Me shall be 

1 Prov. X. 29. 2 Eccles. viii. 5. 3 Ps. cxix. 45. ^ Luke xi. 22, 

5 Ps. cxix. 165. 6 Isa. xlviii. 18. 7 Ps. Ixii. 8. 

8 I Pet. V. 7; I Cor. vii. 32; Matt. vi. 25-34. 9 Prov. iii. i, 2v 

10 Deut. xxxii. 47. n Prov. iii. 8. 12 John xii. 50. 

13 John vii, 17, l^ John viii. 31, 32, 16 i John iii. 22. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 113 

loved of My Father.'* 10. The Manifestation of 
Jesus : ^And I will love Him, and will manifest 
Myself unto Him.'^ 11. The indwelling of the 
Triune God: ^ And we will come unto him, and 
make our abode with him/^ 12. The Witness of 
the Spirit to this indwelling : ^ He that keepeth His 
commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. 
And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the 
Spirit which He hath given us.' * 

* What shall I more say ? '^ Verily y in keeping of 
them there is great reward ! 



'W^mtl 10 i\t x<\<\xi f§at lmd% 1§^ ford, 
t§af i)cfi3§fct§ ^rcatf^ xr^ 1^X0 corrxmdnJ)mcnte/— 
Ps. cxii. I. 



1 Neh. riii. 14, 17, etc, 2 John xiv. 3Z. 

8 John xiv. *5. ^ i John iii. 34. & Heb. xi. js. 



MORNING MELODIES 



MORNING THOUGHTS. wj 



FIRST DAY. 



Consecration Ibi^mn. 

• Here we offer and present unto Thee, O Lord, ourselves, 
our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacri* 
fice unto Thee.' 

TAKE my life, and let it be 
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee. 

Take my moments and my days ; 
Let them flow in ceaseless praise. 

Take my hands, and let them move 
At the impulse of Thy love. 

Take my feet, and let them be 
Swift and * beautiful ' for Thee. 

Take my voice, and let me sing 
Always, only, for my King. 

Take my lips, and let them be 
Filled with messages from Thee. 

Take my silver and my gold ; 
Not a mite would I withhold. 



Il8 MORNING THOUGHTS, 

Take my intellect, and use 
Every power as Thou shalt choose. 

Take my will, and make it Thine ; 
It shall be no longer mine. 

Take my heart, it is Thine own ; 
It shall be Thy royal throne. 

Take my love ; my Lord, I pour 
At Thy feet its treasure-store. 

Take myself, and I will be 
Ever, only, all for Thee. 



SECOND DAY. 



Set apart, 

* Know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for 
Himself/ — Ps. iv. 3. 

I. 

SET apart for Jesus ! 
Is not this enough, 
Though the desert prospect 
Open wild and rough ? 
Set apart for His delight, 

Chosen for His holy pleasure, 
Sealed to be His special treasure 1 
Could we choose a nobler joy ? — and would we if^ 
we might? - 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 119 

II. 

Set apart to serve Him ! 

Ministers of light, 
Standing in His presence, 
Ready day or night ! 
Chosen for the service blest, 

He would have us always willing, 
Like the angel host fulfilling 
Swiftly and rejoicingly each recognized behests 

III. 

Set apart to praise Him, 

Set apart for this ! 
Have the blessed angels 
Any truer bliss ? 
Soft the prelude, though so clear : 
Isolated tones are trembling ; 
But the chosen choir, assembling. 
Soon shall sing together, while the universe shall 
hear. 

IV. 

Set apart to love Him, 

And His love to know ! 
Not to waste affection 
On a passing show. 
Called to give Him life and heart, 

Called to pour the hidden treasure. 
That none other claims to measure. 
Into His beloved hand I thrice blessed * set apart ! ' 



120 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 



Set apart for ever 

For Himself alone ! 
Now we see our calling, 
Gloriously shown. 
Owning, with no secret dread. 
This our holy separation. 
Now the crown of consecration 
Of the Lord our God shall rest upon our willing 
head !^ 



THIRD DAY. 



XTbe Secret of a Ibappi^ Bai?^ 

* The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him/- 
Ps. XXV. 14. 



JUST to let thy Father do 
What He will; 
Just to know that He is true, 

And be still. 
Just to follow hour by hour 

As He leadeth; 
Just to draw the moment's power 
As it needeth. 

1 Num. vi. 7. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 12I 

Just to trust Him, this is all ! 

Then the day will surely be 
Peaceful, whatsoe'er befall, 

Bright and blessed, calm and free. 

11. 

Just to let Him speak to tl^^e 

Through His Word, 
Watching, that His voice may be 

Clearly heard. 
Just to tell Him everything 

As it rises, 
And at once to Him to bring 

All surprises. 
Just to listen, and to stay 

Where you cannot miss His v^?c^* 
This is all ! and thus to-day, 
Communing, you shall rejoice. 

III. 

Just to ask Him what to do 

All the day. 
And to make you quick and true 

To obey. 
Just to know the needed grace 

He bestoweth. 
Every bar of time and place 

Overfloweth. 
Just to take thy orders straight 

From the Master's own command. 
Blessed day ! when thus we wait 
Always at our Sovereign's hand. 



122 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

IV. 

Just to recollect His love, 

Always true ; 
Always shining from above, 

Always new. 
Just to recognize its light, 

All-enfolding ; 
Just to claim its present mighty 

All-upholding. 
Just to know it as thine own, 

That no power can take away. 
Is not this enough alone 
For the gladness of the day ? 



Just to trust, and yet to ask 

Guidance still ; 
Take the training or the task, 

As He will. 
Just to take the loss or gain, 

As He sends it ; 
Just to take the joy or pain, 

As He lends it. 
He who formed thee for His praise 
Will not miss the gracious aim } 
So to-day and all thy days 

Shall be moulded for the same. 

VI. 

Just to leave in His dear hand 

Little things, 
All we cannot understand. 

All that stings. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 123 

Just to let Him take the care 

Sorely pressing, 
Finding all we let Him bear 

Changed to blessing. 
This is all ! and yet the way 

Marked by Him who loves thee best; 
Secret of a happy day, 

Secret of His promised rest. 



FOURTH DAY. 



* He faileth not.' — Zeph. iii. 5. 
I. 

HE who hath led, will lead 
All through the wilderness ; 
He who hath fed, will feed ; 

He who hath blessed, will bless • 
He who hath heard thy cry. 
Will never close His ear ; 
He who hath marked thy faintest sigh. 
Will not forget thy tear. 
He loveth always, faileth never ; 
So rest on Him, to-day, for ever I 

II. 

He who hath made thee whole 
Will heal thee day by day ; 

He who hath spoken to thy soul 
Hath many things to say. 



124 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

He who hath gently taught 

Yet more will make thee know ; 
He who so wondrously hath wrought 
Yet greater things will show. 
He loveth always, faileth never ; 
So rest on Him, to-day, for ever I 

HI. 

He who hath made thee nigh 

Will draw thee nearer still ; 
He who hath given the first supply 

Will satisfy and fill. 
He who hath given thee grace 

Yet more and more will send ; 
He who hath set thee in the race 

Will speed thee to the end. 
He loveth always, faileth never ; 
So rest on Him, to-day, for ever ! 

IV. 

He who hath won thy heart 

Will keep it true and free ; 
He who hath shown thee what thou art 

Will show Himself to thee. 
He who hath bid thee live, 

And made thy life His own, 
Life more abundantly will give, 

And keep it His alone ; 
He loveth always, faileth never ; 
So rest on Him, to-day, for ever 1 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 125 

V. 

Then trust Him for to-day 

As thine unfailing Friend, 
And let Him lead thee all the way, 

Who loveth to the end. 
And let the morrow rest 

In His beloved hand ; 
His good is better than our best, 

As we shall understand, — 
If, trusting Him who faileth never. 
We rest on Him, to-day, for ever ! 



FIFTH DAY. 



* Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse,'- 
I Chron. xii. 18. 



WHO is on the Lord*s side ? 
Who will serve the King? 
Who will be His helpers, 

Other lives to bring ? 
Who will leave the world's side? 

Who will face the foe ? 

Who is on the Lord's side ? 

Who for Him will go ? 



126 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

Response. By Thy call of mercy, 
By Thy grace divine, 
We are on the Lord's side; 
Saviour, we are Thine. 

II. 

Not for weight of glory, 

Not for crown and palm. 
Enter we the army, 

Raise the warrior-psalm ; 
But for Love that claimeth 

Lives for whom He died : 
He whom Jesus nameth 
Must be on His side. 
Response. By Thy love constraining. 
By Thy grace divine, 
We are on the Lord's side j 
Saviour, we are Thine. 

III. 

Jesus, Thou hast bought us, 

Not with gold or gem. 
But with Thine own life-blood, 

For Thy diadem. 
With Thy blessing filling 

Each who comes to Thee, 
Thou hast made us willing. 
Thou hast made us free. 
Response. By Thy grand redemption. 
By Thy grace divine, 
We are on the Lord's side ; 
Saviour, we are Thine. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 127 

IV. 

Fierce may be the conflict, 

Strong may be the foe, 

But the King's own army 

None can overthrow. 
Round His standard ranging. 

Victory is secure, 
For His truth unchanging 
Makes the triumph sure. 
Response, Joyfully enlisting 

By thy grace divine. 
We are on the Lord's side ; 
Saviour, we are Thine. 



Chosen to be soldiers 

In an alien land ; 
' Chosen, called, and faithful,* 

For our Captain's band ; 
In the service royal 

Let us not grow cold ; 
Let us be right loyal, 

Noble, true, and bold. 
Response, Master, Thou wilt keep us. 
By Thy grace divine. 
Always on the Lord's side, 
Saviour, always Thine. 



128 MORNING THOUGHTS, 

SIXTH DAY, 



^rue^bearteb, Mbole^bearteb^ 

I. 

TRUE-HEARTED, whole-hearted, faithful and 
loyal, 
King of our lives, by Thy grace we will be ! 
Under Thy standard, exalted and royal. 

Strong in Thy strength, we will battle for Thee ! 

11. 

True-hearted, whole-hearted ! Fullest allegiance 
Yielding henceforth to our glorious King ; 

Valiant endeavour and loving obedience 
Freely and joyously now would we bring. 

III. 

True-hearted ! Saviour, Thou knowest our story ; 

Weak are the hearts that we lay at Thy feet. 
Sinful and treacherous ! yet, for Thy glory. 

Heal them, and cleanse them from sin and deceit. 

IV. 

Whole-hearted ! Saviour, beloved and glorious, 
Take Thy great power, and reign Thou alone, 

Over our wills and affections victorious. 

Freely surrendered, and wholly Thine own. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, I 2q 

V. 

Zr^^-hearted,/^/j"^-hearted ! Heed we the warning ! 

Only the whole can be perfectly true ; 
Bring the whole offering, all timid thought scorning, 

True-hearted only if whole-hearted too. 

VI. 

Half-hearted ! Saviour, shall aught be withholden. 
Giving Thee part who hast given us all ? 

Blessings outpouring, and promises golden 
Pledging, with never reserve or recall. 

vn. 

Half-hearted ! Master, shall any who know Thee 
Grudge Thee their lives, who hast laid down 
Thine own ? 
Nay ; we would offer the hearts that we owe 
Thee, — 
Live for Thy love and Thy glory alone. 

VIII. 

Sisters, dear sisters, the call is resounding. 

Will ye not echo the silver refrain, 
Mighty and sweet, and in gladness abounding, — 

* True-hearted, whole-hearted ! ' ringing again ? 

IX. 

Jesus is with us, His rest is before us. 
Brightly His standard is waving above. 

Brothers, dear brothers, in gathering chorus, 
Peal out the watchword of courage and love I 



Ijo MORNING THOUGHTS, 

X. 

Peal out the watchword, and silence it never, 
Song of our spirits, rejoicing and free ! 

* True-hearted, whole-hearted, now and for ever, 
King of our lives, by Thy grace we will be ! ' 



SEVENTH DAY. 



*Bi2 XCbi^ Cro00 anb passion/ 

* He hath given us rest by His sorrow, and life by His death.' 
— John Bunyan. 

I. 

WHAT hast Thou done for me, O mighty Friend, 
Who lovest to the end ! 
Reveal Thyself, that I may now behold ! 

Thy love unknown, untold, 
Bearing the curse, and made a curse for me, 
That blessed and made a blessing I might be. 

11. 

Oh, Thou wast crowned with thorns, that I might 
wear 

A crown of glory fair ; 
* Exceeding sorrowful,' that I might be 

Exceeding glad in Thee ; 
'Rejected and despised,' that I might stand 
Accepted and complete on i ny right hand. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, j^i 

III. 

Wounded for my transgression, stricken sore, 
That I might ' sin no more ; ' 

Weak, that I might be always strong in Thee ; 
Bound, that I might be free ; 

Acquaint with grief, that I might only know 

Fulness of joy in everlasting flow. 

IV. 

Thine was the chastisement, with no release, 
That mine might be the peace ; 

The bruising and the cruel stripes were Thine, 
That healing might be mine ; 

Thine was the sentence and the condemnation^ 

Mine the acquittal and the full salvation. 

V. 

For Thee revilings, and a mocking throng, 

For me the angel-song ; 
For Thee the frown, the hiding of God's face. 

For me His smile of grace ; 
Sorrows of hell and bitterest death for Thee, 
And heaven and everlasting life for me. 

VI. 

Thy cross and passion, and Thy precious death, 

While I have mortal breath. 
Shall be my spring of love and work and praise, 

The life of all my days ; 
Till all this mystery of love supreme 
Be solved in glory — glory's endless theme I 



122 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

EIGHTH DAY. 



^be ©peneb jfountain* 

* A fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness. , • • 
Wounded in the house of My friends.' — Zech. xiii. I, 6. 

I. 

AND I have wounded Thee — oh, wounded 
Thee !— 
Wounded the dear, dear Hand that holds me 
fast! 
Oh, to recall the word ! That cannot be ! 

Oh, to unthink the thought that out of reach 
hath passed ! 

II. 

Sorrow and bitter grief replace my bliss ; 

I could not wish that any joy should be ; 
There is no room for any thought but this, 

That I have sinned — have sinned — have wounded 
Thee! 

III. 

How could I grieve Thee so ! Thou couldst have 
kept; 

My fall was not the failure of Thy word. 
Thy promise hath no flaw, no dire * except,' 

To neutralize the grace so royally conferred. 



nrORNTNG THOUGHTS. 

IV. 



133 



Oh, the exceeding sinfulness of sin ! 

Tenfold exceeding in the love-lit light 
Of Thy sufficient grace, without, within, . 

Enough for every need, in never-conquered 
might! 

V. 

With all the shame, with all the keen distress. 
Quick, ^waiting not,' I flee to Thee again; 

Close to the wound, beloved Lord, I press. 

That Thine own precious blood may overflow the 
stain. 

VI. 

O precious blood ! Lord, let it rest on me ! 

I ask not only pardon from my King, 
But cleansing from my Priest. I come to Thee 

Just as I came at first, — a sinful, helpless thing. 

VIL 

Oh, cleanse me now ! My Lord, I cannot stay 
For evening shadows and a silent hour : 

Now I have sinned, and now^ with no delay, 
I claim Thy promise and its total power. 

VIII. 

O Saviour, bid me * go and sin no more,' 
And keep me always 'neath the mighty flow 

Of Thy perpetual fountain ; I implore 

That Thy perpetual cleansing I may fully know. 



134 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

NINTH DAY. 



ZTbe iprecioue 3Bloob of ^esus, 

I. 

PRECIOUSj precious blood of Jesus, 
Shed on Calvary ; 
Shed for rebels, shed for sinners, 
Shed for me. 

II. 

Precious blood, that hath redeemed us I 

All the price is paid ; 
Perfect pardon now is offered, 

Peace is made. 

III. 

Precious, precious blood of Jesus, 

Let it make thee whole ; 
Let it flow in mighty cleansing 

O'er thy soul. 

IV. 

Though thy sins are red like crimson. 

Deep in scarlet glow, 
Jesus' precious blood can make them 

White as snow. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 135 



Now the holiest with boldness 

We may enter in, 
For the open fountain cleanseth 

From all sin. 

VI. 

Precious blood ! by this we conquer 

In the fiercest fight, 
Sin and Satan overcoming 

By its might, 

VII. 

Precious, precious blood of Jesus, 

Ever flowing free ! 
O believe it, O receive it, 

'Tis for thee ! 

VIII. 

Precious blood, whose full atonement 
Makes us nigh to God ! 

Precious blood, our song of glory, 
Praise and laud ! 



136 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



TENTH DAY. 



IF IRemember ^bee, 

*Thus saith the Lord, I remember thee, the kindness of thy 
youth, the love of thine espousals.' — Jer. ii. 2. 

I. 

MY Lord, dost Thou indeed remember me, 
Just me^ the least and last ? 
With all the names of Thy redeemed, 
And all Thy angels, has it seemed 
As though my name might perhaps be overpassed ; 
Yet here I find Thy word of tenderest grace, 
True for this moment, perfect for my case, — 
* Thus saith Jehovah, I remember thee ! ' 

IL 
My Lord, dost Thou remember this of me, 
The kindness of my youth ? — 
The tremulous gleams of early days. 
The first faint thrills of love and praise, 
Vibrating fitfully ? Not much, in truth. 
Can I bring back at memory's wondering call; 
Yet Thou, my faithful Lord, rememberest all,— 
^ Thus saith Jehovah, I remember thee ! ' 

IIL 
My Lord, dost Thou remember this of me, 
My love, so poor, so cold ? 
Oh, if I had but loved Thee more ! 
Yet Thou hast pardoned. Let me pour 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



137 



My life's best wine for Thee, my heart's best gold 
(Worthless, yet all I have), for very shame 
That Thou should'st tell me, calling me by 
name, — 

* Thus saith Jehovah, I remember thee ! ' 

IV. 

My Lord, dost Thou remember this of me. 
The day of Thine own power ? 

The love of mine espousals sweet, 

The laying wholly at thy feet 
Of heart and life, in that glad, willing hour? 
That love was Thine — I gave Thee but Thine own, 
And yet the Voice falls from the emerald throne,-— 

* Thus saith Jehovah, I remember thee ! ' 

V. 

My Lord, dost Thou remember this of me? 
Forgetting every fall. 

Forgetting all the treacherous days, 

Forgetting all the wandering ways. 
With fulness of forgiveness covering all ; 
Casting these memories, a hideous store, 
Into the crimson sea, for evermore, 
And only saying, * I remember thee ! * 

VI. 

My Lord, art Thou indeed remembering me? 
Then let me not forget ! 
Oh, be Thy kindness all the way, 
Thy everlasting love to-day, 



138 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 



In sweet perpetual remembrance set 
Before my view, to fill my marvelling gaze, 
And stir my love, and lift my life to praise, 
Because Thou sayest, ^ I remember thee ? ' 



ELEVENTH DAY. 



I. 

I KNOW the crimson stain of sin, 
Detailing all without, within ; 
But now rejoicingly I know 
That He has washed me white as snow. 
I praise Him for the cleansing tide, 
Because I know that Jesus died. 

n. 

I know the helpless, hopeless plaint, 

* The whole head sick, the whole heart faint j * 

But now I trust His touch of grace, 

That meets so perfectly my case, 

So tenderly, so truly deals ; 

Because I know that Jesus heals. 

III. 

I know the pang of forfeit breath. 
When life in sin was life in death : 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 13^ 

But now I know His life is mine, 
And nothing shall that cord untwine, 
Rejoicing in the life He gives, 
Because I know that Jesus lives. 

IV. 

I know how anxious thought can press, 
I know the weight of carefulness ; 
But now I know the sweet reward 
Of casting all upon my Lord, 
No longer bearing what He bears, 
Because I know that Jesus cares. 

V. 

I know the sorrow that is known 

To the tear-burdened heart alone ; 

But now I know its full relief 

Through Him who was acquaint with grief, 

And peace through every trial flows, 

Because I know that Jesus knows. 

VI. 

I know the gloom amid the mirth. 
The longing for the love of earth ; 
But now I know the Love that fills. 
That gladdens, blesses, crowns and stills, 
That nothing mars and nothing moves,— 
I know, I know that Jesus loves ! 

VII. 

i know the shrinking and the fear, 

When all seems wrong, and nothing clear J 



I40 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 

But now I gaze upon His throne, 
And faith sees all His foes overthrown, 
And I can wait till He explains, 
Because I know that Jesus reigns. 



TWELFTH DAY. 



I. 

I AM trusting Thee, Lojd Jesus, 
Trusting only Thee ; 
Trusting Thee for full salvation, 
Great and free. 

n. 

I am trusting Thee for pardon ; 

At Thy feet I bow, 
For Thy grace and tender mercy. 
Trusting now. 

m. 

I am trusting Thee for cleansing 

In the crimson flood ; 
Trusting Thee to make me holy 
By Thy blood. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 14I 

IV. 



I am trusting Thee to guide me j 

Thou alone shalt lead ! 
Every day and hour supplying 
All my need. 



I am trusting Thee for power ; 

Thine can never fail ! 
Words which Thou Thyself shalt give me. 
Must prevail. 

VI. 

I am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus ; 

Never let me fall ! 
I am trusting Thee for ever, 
And for all. 



THIRTEENTH DAY. 



XoofiinG unto 3e0U0^ 
I. 

LOOKING unto Jesus ! 
Battle-shout of faith, 
Shield o'er all the armour, 
Free from scar or scathe 



142 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

Standard of salvation, 
In our hearts unfurled, 

Let its elevation 

Overcome the world ! 

II. 

Look away to Jesus ! 

Look away from all ; 
Then we need not stumble, 

Then we shall not fall. 
From each snare that lureth 

Foe or phantom grim, 
Safety this ensureth : 

Look away to Him. 

III. 

Looking into Jesus ! 

Wonderingly we trace 
Heights of power and glory, 

Depths of love and grace. 
Vistas far unfolding, 

Ever stretch before, 
As we gaze, beholding 

Ever more and more. 

IV. 
Looking up to Jesus 

On the emerald throne ! 
Faith shall pierce the heavens 

Where our King is gone. 
Lord, on Thee depending, 

Now, continually, 
Heart and mind ascending. 

Let us dwell with Thee. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 143 

FOURTEENTH DAY. 



Sbining^ 

I. 

ARE you shining for Jesus, dear one? 
You have given your heart to Him j 
But is the hght strong within it, 

Or is it but pale and dim ? 
Can everybody see it, — 

That Jesus is all to you ? 
That your love to Him is burning 

With radiance warm and true ? 
Is the seal upon your forehead. 

So that it must be known 
That you are * all for Jesus,' — 

That your heart is all His own? 



II. 



Are you shining for Jesus, dear one? 

You remember the first sweet ray, 
When the sun arose upon you 

And brought the gladsome day ; 
When you heard the gospel message, 

And Jesus Himself drew near. 
And helped you to trust Him simply. 

And took away your fear : 



1 44 MORNING THO UGHTS. 

When the darkness and the shadows 

Fled like a weary night, 
And you felt that you could praise Him, 

And everything seemed bright. 

III. 

Are you shining for Jesus, dear one, 

So that the holy light 
May enter the hearts of others, 

And make them glad and bright? 
Have you spoken a word for Jesus, 

And told to some around. 
Who do not care about Him, 

What a Saviour you have found ? 
Have you lifted the lamp for others. 

That has guided your own glad feet ? 
Have you echoed the loving message, 

That seemed to you so sweet ? 

IV. 

Are you shining for Jesus, dear one,— 

Shining for Him all day. 
Letting the light burn always 

Along the varied way ? 
Always, — when those beside you 

Are walking in the dark? 
Always, — when no one is helping. 

Or heeding your tiny spark? 
Not idly letting it flicker 

In every passing breeze 
Of pleasure or temptation. 

Of trouble or of ease ? 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 145 

V. 

Are you shining for Jesus, dear one,— 

Shining just everywhere, 
Not only in easy places, 

Not only just here or there? 
Shining in happy gatherings, 

Where all are loved and known ? 
Shining where all are strangers ? 

Shining when quite alone? 
Shining at home, and making 

True sunshine all around ? 
Shining abroad, and faithful — 

Perhaps among faithless — found? 

VI. 

Are you shining for J^esus, dear one. 

Not for yourself at all ? 
Not because dear ones, watching, 

Would grieve if your lamp should fall? 
Shining because you are walking 

In the Sun's unclouded rays, 
And you cannot help reflecting 

The light on which you gaze ? 
Shining because it shineth 

So warm and bright above, 
That you must let out the gladness, 

And you 7nust show forth the love? 

VII. 

Are you shining for Jesus, dear one? 
Or is there a little sigh 



146 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 

That the lamp His love had lighted 

Does not burn clear and high ? 
Is the heavenly crown that waits you. 

Still, still without a star, 
Because your light was hidden, 

And sent no rays afar ? 
Do you feel you have not loved Him 

With a love right brave and loyal, 
But have faintly fought and followed 

His banner bright and royal ? 

vni. 

Oh, come again to Jesus I 

Come as you came at first, 
And tell Him all that hinders. 

And tell Him all the worst ; 
And take His sweet forgiveness 

As you took it once before, 
And hear His kind voice saying, 

* Peace ! go, and sin no more !* 
Then ask for grace and courage 

His name to glorify. 
That never more His precious light 

Your dimness may deny. 

IX. 

Then rise, and, ' watching daily,* 
Ask Him your lamp to trim 

With the fresh oil He giveth. 
That it may not burn dim. 

Yes, rise and shine for Jesus ! 
Be brave, and bright, and true 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 

To the true and loving Saviour, 
Who gave Himself for you. 

Oh, shine for Jesus, dear one. 
And henceforth be your way 

Bright with the light that shineth 
Unto the perfect day ! 



147 



FIFTEENTH DAY. 



(Byowing^ 



UNTO him that hath, Thou givest 
Ever *more abundantly,' 
Lord, I live because Thou livest, 

Therefore give more life to me^ 
Therefore speed me in the race ; 
Therefore let me grow in grace. 

11. 

Deepen all Thy work, O Master, 
Strengthen every downward root. 

Only do Thou ripen faster, 

More and more. Thy pleasant fruiU 

Purge me, prune me, self abase, 

Only let me grow in grace. 

III. 

Jesus, grace for grace outpouring, 
Show me ever greater things ; 



148 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

Raise me higher, sunward soaring, 

Mounting as on eagle-wings. 
By the brightness of Thy face, 
Jesus, let me grow in grace. 

IV. 

Let me grow by sun and shower, 
Every moment water me ; 

Make me really hour by hour 

More and more conformed to Thee. 

That Thy loving eye may trace, 

Day by day, my growth in grace. 

V. 

Let me then be always growing, 
Never, never standing still ; 

Listening, learning, better knowing 
Thee and Thy most blessed will. 

Till I reach Thy holy place, 

Daily let me grow in grace. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 149 



SIXTEENTH DAY. 



IRestlng. 

* This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest ; 
and this is the refreshing.' — Is A. xxviii. 12. 

I. 

RESTING on the faithfulness of Christ oxBt 
Lord; 
Resting on the fulness of His own sure word ; 
Resting on His power, on His love untold ; 
Resting on His covenant secured of old. 

II. 

Resting 'neath His guiding hand for untracked 

days; 
Resting 'neath His shadow from the noontide rays; 
Resting at the eventide beneath His wing ; 
In the fair pavilion of our Saviour King. 

III. 

Resting in the fortress while the foe is nigh; 
Resting in the lifeboat while the waves roll high ; 
Resting in His chariot for the swift, glad race; 
Resting, always resting in His boundless grace. 



I JO MORNING THOUGHTS. 

IV. 

Resting in the pastures, and beneath the Rock ; 
Resting by the waters where He leads His flock ' 
Resting, while we listen, at His glorious feet ; 
Resting in His very arms ! — O rest complete I 



Resting and believing, let us onward press ; 
Resting in Himself, the Lord our Righteousness; 
Resting and rejoicing, let His saved ones sing, 
Glory, glory, glory be to Christ our King ! 



SEVENTEENTH DAY. 



« Filled with all the fulness of God.' — Eph. iii. 19. 



HOLY Father, Thou hast spoken 
Words beyond our grasp of thought,- 
Words of grace and power unbroken. 
With mysterious glory fraught. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 151 

II. 

Promise and command combining, 
Doubt to chase and faith to lift ; 

Self renouncing, all resigning, 
We would claim this mighty gift. 

III. 

Take us, Lord, oh, take us truly, 
Mind and soul and heart and will ; 

Empty us and cleanse us throughly, 
Then with all thy fulness filL 

IV. 

Lord, we ask it, hardly knowing 
What this wondrous gift may be, 

But fulfil to overflowing, — 
Thy great meaning let us see. 

V. 

Make us in Thy royal palace 

Vessels worthy for the King ; 
From Thy fulness fill our chalice, 

From Thy never-failing spring. 

VI. 

Father, by this blessed filling. 

Dwell Thyself in us, we pray ; 
We are waiting, Thou art willing. 

Fill us with Thyself to-day ! 



152 MORNING THOUGHTS. 



EIGHTEENTH DAY. 



Increase our faitb, 

* Lord, increase our faith.* — Luke xvii. 5, 
I. 

INCREASE our faith, beloved Lord ! 
For Thou alone canst give 
The faith that takes Thee at Thy word, 
The faith by which we live. 

11. 

Increase our faith ! So weak are we, 

That we both may and must 
Commit our very faith to Thee, 

Entrust to Thee our trust. 

III. 

Increase our faith ! for there is yet 

Much land to be possessed ; 
And by no other strength we get 
^ Our heritage of rest. 

IV. 

Increase our faith ! On this broad shield 
^ AlV fiery darts be caught ; 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 153 

We must be victors in the field 
Where Thou for us hast fought. 

V. 

Increase our faith, that we may claim 

Each starry promise sure, 
And always triumph in Thy name, 

And to the end endure. 

VI. 

Increase our faith, O Lord, we pray, 

That we may not depart 
From Thy commands, but all obey 

With free and loyal heart. 

VII. 

Increase our faith — increase it still— 

From heavenward hour to hour 
And in us gloriously ' fulfil 

The work of faith with power.' 

VIII. 

Increase our faith, that never dim 

Or trembling it may be. 
Crowned with the ^ perfect peace' of him 

* Whose mind is stayed on Thee.' 

IX. 

Increase our faith, for Thou hast prayed 

That it should never fail ; 
Our steadfast anchorage is made 

With Thee, within the veil. 



154 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 

X, 

Increase our faith, that unto Thee 
More fruit may stili abound ; 

That it may grow ' exceedingly/ 
And to Thy praise be found. 

XL 

Increase our faith, O Saviour dear, 
By Thy sweet sovereign grace, 

Till, changing faith for vision clear, 
We see Thee face to face ! 



NINETEENTH DAY, 



^IRobobi? Iknows but Jesus/ 



' NfO^OI^Y knows but Jesus !* 
J-^ 'Tis only the old refrain 
Of a quaint, pathetic slave-song, 
But it comes again and again. 

II. 

I only heard it quoted, 

And I do not know the rest ; 

But the music of the message 
Was wonderfully blessed. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 155 

III. 

For it fell upon my spirit 

Like sweetest twilight psalm, 
When the breezy sunset waters 

Die into starry calm. 

IV. 

* Nobody knows but Jesus !' 

Is it not better so, 
That no one else but Jesus, 

My own dear Lord, should know? 

V. 

When the sorrow is a secret 

Between my Lord and me, 
I learn the fuller measure 

Of His quick sympathy, 

VI. 

Whether it be so heavy, 

That dear ones could not bear 
To know the bitter burden 

They could not come and share ; 

VII. 

Whether it be so tiny. 

That others could not see 
Why it should be a trouble, 

And seem so real to me ; 



156 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 

VIII. 

Either, and both, I lay them 
Down at my Master's feet, 

And find them, alone with Jesus, 
Mysteriously sweet. 

IX. 

Sweet, for they bring me closer 
To the dearest, truest Friend ; 

Sweet, for He comes the nearer, 
As 'neath the cross I bend; 

X. 

Sweet, for they are the channels 
Through which His teachings flow J 

Sweet, for by these dark secrets 
His heart of love I know. 

XI. 

'Nobody knows but Jesus !' 

It is music for to-day, 
And through the darkest hours 

It will chime along the way. 

XII. 

' Nobody knows but Jesus !' 
My Lord, I bless Thee now 

For the sacred gift of sorrow 
That no one knows but Thou. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 



TWENTIETH DAY. 



157 



I. 

JESUS, Thy life is mine ! 
Dwell evermore in me ; 
And let me see 
That nothing can untwine 
My life from Thine. 

11. 

Thy life in me be shown ! 
Lord, I would henceforth seek 

To think and speak 
Thy thoughts, Thy words alone, 

No more my own. 

III. 

Thy love, Thy joy, Thy peace, 
Continuously impart 

Unto my heart 
Fresh springs, that never cease 

But still increase. 



158 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 

IV. 

The blest reality 

Of resurrection power, 

Thy Church's dower, 
Life more abundantly, 

Lord, give to me ! 

V. 

Thy fullest gift, O Lord, 
Now at Thy feet I claim, 

Through Thy dear name ! 
And touch the rapturous chord 

Of praise forth poured. 

VI. 

Jesus, my life is Thine, 
And evermore shall be 

Hidden in Thee ! 
For nothing can untwine 

Thy life from mine. 



TWENTY-FIRST DAY. 



jenouab* 

I. 

1AM so weak, dear Lord, I cannot stand 
One moment without Thee ! 
But oh ! the tendernes? of Thine enfolding. 



MORNING TIJO UGH TS. 



159 



And oh ! the faithfulness of Thine upholding, 
And oh 1 the strength of Thy right hand ! 
That strength is enough for me ! 

11. 

I am so needy, Lord, and yet I know 

All fulness dwells in Thee ; 
And hour by hour that never-failing treasure 
Supplies and fills, in overflowing measure, 
My least, my greatest need ; and so 

Thy grace is enough for me ! 

III. 

It is so sweet to trust Thy word alone : 

I do not ask to see 
The unveiling of Thy purpose, or the shining 
Of future light on mysteries untwining : 
Thy promise-roll is all my own, — 

Thy word is enough for me ! 

IV. 

The human heart asks love ; but now I know 

That my heart hath from Thee 
All real, and full, and marvellous affection, 
So near, so human ; yet divine perfection 
Thrills gloriously the mighty glow ! 

Thy love is enough for me ! 

V. 

There were strange soul-depths, restless, vast, and 
broad, 
Unfathomed as the sea ; 



l60 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

An infinite craving for some infinite stilling; 
But now Thy perfect love is perfect filling ! 
Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord, my God, 
Thou, Thou art enough for me ! 



TWENTY-SECOND DAY, 



I. 



GOD'S reiterated ^ ALL ! ' 
O wondrous word of peace and power 1 
Touching with its tuneful fall 
The rising of each hidden hour. 

All the day. 

11. 

Only all His word believe, 

Allipesice and joy your heart shall fill. 
All things asked ye shall receive : 

This is thy Father's word and will, 

For to-day. 

III. 

^ Alll have is thine,' saith He. 

'^//things are yours/ He saith again; 



MOKNIXG THOUGHTS. igj 

All the promises for thee 

Are sealed with Jesus Christ* s Amen, 

For to-day, 

IV. 

He shall all your need supply, 

And He will make all grace abound ; 

^/ways ^//sufficiency 

In Him for all things shall be found, 

For to-day. 

V. 

All His work He shall fulfil, 

All the good pleasure of His will, 
Keeping thee in all thy ways. 

And with thee always, * all the days,' 

And to-day 3 



TWENTY-THIRD DAY. 



I. 



ONLY a mortal's powers, 
Weak at their fullest strength ; 
Only a few swift-flashing hours. 
Short at their fullest length. 



1 62 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

II. 

Only a page for the eye, 
Only a word for the ear, 

Only a smile, and by and by 
Only a quiet tear. 

III. 

Only one heart to give, 
Only one voice to use ; 

Only one little life to live, 
And only one to lose. 

IV. 

Poor is my best and small : 
How could I dare divide ? 

Surely my Lord shall have it all. 
He shall not be denied ! 

V. 

All ! for far more I owe 
Than all I have to bring ; 

All ! for my Saviour loves me so I 
All ! for I love my King ! 

VI. 

All ! for it is His own, 
He gave the tiny store ; 

All ! for it must be His alone ; 
All ! for I have no more. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 

VII. 

All ! for the last and least 

He stoopeth to uplift : 
The altar of my great High Priest 

Shall sanctify my gift. 



163 



TWENTY-FOURTH DAY. 



* I love my master ; . . . I will not go out free. 

And he shall serve him for ever.' — Ex. xxi. 5, 6, 

I. 

I LOVE, I love my Master, 
I will not go out free, 
For He is my Redeemer, 
He paid the price for me. 

II. 

I would not leave His service, 

It is so sweet and blest \ 
And in the weariest moments 

He gives the truest rest. 

III. 

I would not halve my service, 

His only it must be, — 
His only J who so loved me 

And gave Himself for me. 



164 MORNING THOUGHTS, 

IV. 

My Master shed His life-blood 
My vassal life to win, 

And save me from the bondage 
Of tyrant self and sin. 



He chose me for His service, 
And gave me power to choose 

That blessed, ' perfect freedom ' 
Which I shall never lose ; 

VI. 

For He hath met my longing 
With word of golden tone. 

That I shall serve for ever 
Himself, Himself alone. 

VII. 

* Shall serve Him ' hour by hour. 

For He will show me how ; 
My Master is fulfilling 
His promise even now ! 

VIII. 

* Shall serve Him/ and ^ for ever;* 

O hope most sure, most fair ! 
The perfect love outpouring 
In perfect service there I 



MORNING THOUGHTS, jgc 

IX. 

Rejoicing and adoring, 

Henceforth my song shall be : 
I love, I love my Master, 

I will not go out free ! 



TWENTY-FIFTH DAY. 



perfect peace^ 

I. 

LIKE a river glorious 
Is God^s perfect peace. 
Over all victorious 

In its bright increase. 
Perfect — yet it floweth 

Fuller every day ; 
Perfect — yet it groweth 

Deeper all the way. 
Chorus, Stayed upon Jehovah, 

Hearts are fully blest, 

Finding, as He promised. 

Perfect peace and rest. 

II. 

Hidden in the hollow 
Of His blessed hand<. 



1 66 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

Never foe can follow. 
Never traitor stand. 
Not a surge of worry, 
Not a shade of care, 
Not a blast of hurry 

Touch the spirit there. 
Chorus, Stayed upon Jehovah, 

Hearts are fully blest, 
Finding, as He promised, 
Perfect peace and rest. 

HI. 

Every joy or trial 

Falleth from above. 
Traced upon our dial 

By the Sun of Love. 
We may trust Him solely 

All for us to do ; 
They who trust Him wholly, 

Find Him wholly true. 
Chorus, Stayed upon Jehovah, 

Hearts are fully blest, 
Finding, as He promised, 
Perfect peace and rest. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



167 



TWENTY-SIXTH DAY. 



If am witb ^bee^ 



* T AM with thee ! * He hath said it 
-L In His truth and tender grace ; 
Sealed the promise, grandly spoken, 
With how many a mighty token 
Of his love and faithfulness. 

II. 

He is with thee ! — In thy dwellings 

Shielding thee from fear of ill ; 
All thy burdens kindly bearing, 
For thy dear ones gently caring, 
Guarding, keeping, blessing still. 

III. 

He is with thee ! — In thy «;ervice 
He is with thee ' certainly,' 

Filling with the Spirit's power. 

Giving in the needing hour 
His own messages by thee. 



1 68 MORNING THOUGHTS. 

IV. 

He is with thee !— With thy spirit. 
With thy lips, or with thy pen j 
In the quiet preparation, 
In the heart-bowed congregation. 
Nevermore alone again ! 



He is with thee ! — With thee always. 

All the nights and all the days ; 
Never failing, never frowning, 
With His loving-kindness crowning, 
Tuning all thy life to praise. 

VI. 

He is with thee ! — Thine own Master, 

Leading, loving to the end ; 
Brightening joy and lightening sorrow. 
All to-day, yet more to-morrow, 

King and Saviour, Lord and Friends 

VII. 

He is with thee ! — Yes, for ever, 

Now, and through eternity ; 
Then with Him for ever dwelling, 
Thou shalt share His joy excelling, 

Thou with Christ and Christ with thee 1 



MORiVING THOUGHTS. 169 



TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY. 



tTrust anb Bietrust. 
I. 

DISTRUST thyself, but trust His grace ; 
It is enough for thee ! 
In every trial thou shalt trace 
Its all-sufiSciency. 

II. 

Distrust thyself, but trust His strength; 

In Him thou shalt be strong : 
His weakest ones may learn at length 

A daily triumph-song. 

III. 

Distrust thyself, but trust His love ; 

Rest in its changeless glow : 
And life or death shall only prove 

Its everlasting flow. 

IV. 

Distrust thyself, but trust alone 

In Him, for all — for ever ! 
And joyously thy heart shall own 

That Jesus faileth never. 



170 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY. 



Mltbout Carefulnesa. 

* I would have you without carefulness.' — I Cor. vii. 32. 
I. 

MASTER ! how shall I bless Thy name 
For Thy tender love to me, 
For the sweet enablings of Thy grace, 

So sovereign, yet so free, 
That have taught me to obey Thy word 
And cast my care on Thee ! 

11. 

They tell of weary burdens borne 

For discipline of life, 
Of long anxieties and doubts, 

Of struggle and of strife, 
Of a path of dim perplexities 

With fears and shadows rife. 

III. 

Oh, I have trod that weary path, 

With burdens not a few. 
With shadowy faith that Thou wouldst lead 

And help me safely through, 
Trying to follow and obey. 

And bear my burdens too. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. yJI 

IV. 

Master ! dear Master, Thou didst speak. 

And yet I did not hear, 
Or long ago I might have ceased 

From every care and fear, 
And gone rejoicing on my way 

From brightening year to year. 

V. 

Just now and then some steeper slope 

Would seem so hard to climb, 
That I must cast my load on Thee ; 

And I left it for a time, 
And wondered at the joy at heart, 

Like sweetest Christmas chime. 

VI. 

A step o^ two on winged feet, 

And then I turned to share 
The burden Thou hadst taken up 

Of ever-pressing care ; 
So that I would not leave with Thee 

Of course I had to bear. 

VII. 

At last Thy precious precepts fell 

On opened heart and ear, 
A varied and repeated strain 

I could not choose but hear, 
Enlinking promise and command, 

Like harp and clarion clear : 



172 MORNING THOUGH! S. 

VIII. 

* No anxious thought upon thy brow 
The watching world should see ; 

No carefulness ! O child of God, 
For nothing careful be ! 

But cast thou all thy care on Him 
Who always cares for thee.* 

IX. 

Did not Thy loving Spirit come 

In gentle, gracious shower, 
To work Thy pleasure in my soul 

In that bright, blessed hour, 
And to the word of strong command 

Add faith and will and power? 

X. 

It was Thy word, it was Thy will — 

That was enough for me ! 
Henceforth no care shall dim my trust, 

For all is cast on Thee; 
Henceforth my inmost heart shall praise 

The grace that set me free. 

XL 

And now I find Thy promise true. 

Of perfect peace and rest ; 
I cannot sigh — I can but sing 

While leaning on Thy breast. 
And leaving everything to Thee, 

Whose ways are always best. 



MORNING THOUGHTS, 173 

XII. 

I never thought it could be thus, — 

Month after month to know 
The river of Thy peace without 

One ripple in its flow ; 
Without one quiver in the trust. 

One flicker in its glow. 

XIII. 

Oh, Thou hast done far more for mc 

Than I had asked or thought ! 
I stand and marvel to behold 

What Thou, my Lord, hast wrought, 
And wonder what glad lessons yet 

I shall be daily taught. 

XIV. 

How shall I praise Thee, Saviour dear. 

For this new life so sweet, 
For taking all the care I laid 

At Thy beloved feet. 
Keeping Thy hand upon my heart 

To still each anxious beat ! 

XV. 

I want to praise, with life renewed. 

As I never praised before ; 
With voice and pen, with song and speech. 

To praise thee more and more. 



174 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



And the gladness and the gratitude 
Rejoicingly outpour. 

XVI. 

I long to praise Thee more, and yet 

This is no care to me : 
If Thou shalt fill my mouth with songs. 

Then I will sing to Thee ; 
And if my silence praise Thee best, 

Then silent I will be. 

XVII. 

Yet if it be Thy will, dear Lord, 

Oh, send me forth, to be 
Thy messenger to careful hearts, 

To bid them taste and see 
How good Thou art to those who cast 

All, all their care on Thee ! 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 



TWENTY-NINTH DAY. 



^75 



^bi2 IReian. 



* Righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost*- 
RoM. xiv. 17. 



T' 



I. 

^HY reign is righteousness, 
Not mine, but Thine ! — 
A covering no less 
Than the broad, bright waves of Thy great sea, 
That roll triumphantly 
From line to pole, and pole to line; . 
A reign where every rebel thought 

In sweet captivity 
To Thine obedience is brought. 

II. 

Thy reign is perfect peace \ 
Not mine, but Thine ! — 
A stream that cannot cease, 
For its fountain is Thy heart. O depth unknown 1 
Thou givest of Thine own, 
Pouring from Thine and filling mine. 
The ' noise of war ' hath passed away; 

God's peace is on the throne, 
Ruling with undisputed sway. 



1^6 MORNING THOUGHTS, 

III. 

Thy reign is joy divine; 
Not mine, but Thine ; 
Or else not any joy to me ! 
For a joy that flowed not from Thine own, 
Since Thou hast reigned alone, 
Were vacancy or misery. 
O sunshine of Thy realm, how bright 

This radiance from Thy throne, 
Unspeakable in calmest light ! 

IV. 

Thy reign shall still increase ! 

I claim Thy word, — 
Let righteousness and peace 
And joy in the Holy Ghost be found. 
And more and more abound 
In me, through Thee, O Christ my Lord; 
Take unto Thee Thy power, who art 

My Sovereign, many-crowned ! 
Stablish Thy kingdom in my heart. 



MORNING THOUGHTS. 177 



THIRTIETH DAY. 



tTrie^, precious. Sure. 

i* The Same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.'— 
Heb. xiii. 8. 
* A stone, a tried stone, a precious comer stone, \ 
sure foundation.' — Is A. xxviii. i6. 

I. 

THROUGH the yesterday of ages, 
Jesus, Thou hast been The Same ; 
Through our own life's chequered pages. 

Still the one dear changeless Name. 
Well may we in Thee confide, 
Faithful Saviour, proved and * tried I ' 

11. 

Joyfully we stand and witness 
Thou art still to-day The Same ; 

In Thy perfect, glorious fitness, 
Meeting every need and claim. 

Chiefest of ten thousand Thou ! 

Saviour, O most ^precious,' now! 

HI. 

Gazing down the far for ever, 

Brighter glows the one sweet Name, 



178 MORNING THO UGHTS, 

Steadfast radiance, paling never, 

Jesus, Jesus ! still The Same. 
Evermore ^Thou shalt endure,' 
Our own Saviour, strong and 'sure!* 



THIRTY-FIRST DAY. 



3u6t wben ZLbou Milt^ 

I. 

JUST when Thou wilt, O Master, call. 
Or at the noon, or evening fall, 
Or in the dark, or in the light, — 
Just when Thou wilt, it must be right. 



II. 



Just when Thou wilt, O Saviour, come. 
Take me to dwell in Thy bright home ! 
Or when the snows have crowned my head. 
Or ere it hath one silver thread. 

III. 

Just when Thou wilt, O Bridegroom, say, 
* Rise up, my love, and come away 1' 



MORNING 7 HO UGII TS. j yg 

Open to me Thy golden gate, 

Just when Thou wilt, or soon, or late. 

IV. 

Just when Thou wilt — Thy time is best— 
Thou shalt appoint my hour of rest, 
Marked by the Sun of perfect love. 
Shining unchangeably above. 

V. 

Just when Thou wilt ! — no choice for me ! 
Life is a gift to use for Thee ; 
Death is a hushed and glorious tryst, 
With Thee, my King, my Saviour, Christ t 



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George Du Maurier. 

BLACK BEAUTY, by Anna Sewell, with nearly 50 original 
engravings. 

SCARLET LETTER, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, with numer- 
ous original full-page and text illustrations. 

THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES, by Nathaniel 
Hawthorne, with numerous original full-page and text 
illustrations. 

BATTLES OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE, 
by Prescott Holmes, with 70 illustrationg. 

BATTLES OF THE WAR FOR THE UNION, by 
Prescott Holmes, with 80 illustrations. 



HENRY ALTEMUS* PUBLICATIONS. 



ALTEMUS* YOUNG PEOPLES' LIBRARY 
PRICE FIFTY CENTS EACH. 



ROBINSON CRUSOE: (Chiefly in words of one syllable). 
His life and strange, surprising adventures, with 70 
beautiful illustrations by Walter Paget. 

ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, with 
42 illustrations by John Tenniel. " The most delightful 
of children's stories. Elegant and delicious nonsense." 
— Saturday Review. 

THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS AND WHAT 
ALICE FOUND THERE ; a companion to ** Alice 
in Wonderland," with 50 illustrations by John Tenniel. 

BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, with 50 full page 
and text illustrations. 

A CHILD'S STORY OF THE BIBLE, with 72 full page 
illustrations. 

A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST, with 49 illustrations. 
God has implanted in the infant heart a desire to hear 
of Jesus, and children are early attracted and sweetly 
riveted by the wonderful Story of the Master from the 
Manger to the Throne. 

SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, with 50 illustrations. The 
father of the family tells the tale of the vicissitudes 
through which he and his wife and children pass, the 
wonderful discoveries made and dangers encountered. 
The book is full of interest and instruction. 

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOV- 
ERY OF AMERICA, with 70 illustrations. Every 
American boy and girl should be acquainted with the 
story of the life of the great discoverer, with its strug- 
gles, adventures,and trials. 

THE STORY OF EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY 
IN AFRICA, with 80 illustrations. Records the ex- 
periences of adventures and discoveries in developing 
the " Dark Continent," from the early days of Bruce 
and Mungo Park down to Livingstone and Stanley, 
and the heroes of our own times. No present can be 
more acceptable than such a volume as this, where 
courage, intrepidity, resource, and devotion are so 
admirably mingled. 



HENRY ALTEMUS' PUBLICATIONS. 



Altemus' Young Peoples' Library — continued. 



THE FABLES OF iESOP. Compiled from the best 
accepted sources. With 62 illustrations. The fables of 
JEsop are among the very earliest compositions of this 
kind, and probably have never been surpassed for point 
and brevity. 

GULLIVER'S TRAVELS. Adapted for young readers. 
With 50 illustrations. 

MOTHER GOOSE'S RHYMES, JINGLES AND 
FAIRY TALES, with 234 illustrations. 

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED 
STATES, by Prescott Holmes. With portraits of 
the Presidents and also of the unsuccessful candidates 
for the office ; as well as the ablest of the Cabinet offi- 
cers. It is just the book for intelligent boys, and it 
will help to make them intelligent and patriotic citizens. 

THE STORY OF ADVENTURE IN THE FROZEN 
SEAS, with 70 illustrations. By Prescott Holmes. 
We have here brought together the records of the 
attempts to reach the North Pole. The book shows 
how much can be accomplished by steady perseverance 
and indomitable pluck. 

ILLUSTRATED NATURAL HISTORY, by the Rev. J. 

G. Wood, with 80 illustrations. This author has done 
more to popularize the study of natural history than 
any other writer. The illustrations are striking and 
life-like. 

A CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND, by Charles 
Dickens, with 50 illustrations. Tired of listening to 
his children memorize the twaddle of old fashioned 
English history the author covered the ground in his 
own peculiar and happy style for his own children's 
mse. When the work was published its success was 
instantaneous. 

BLACK BEAUTY, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A 
HORSE, by Anna Sewell, with 50 illustrations. A 
work sure to educate boys and girls to treat with kind- 
ness all members of the animal kingdom. Recognized 
as the greatest story of animal life extant. 

THE ARABIAN NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS, 

with 130 illustrations. Contains the most favorably 
known of the stories. 



HENRY ALTEMUS' PUBLICATIONS. 



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1 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE, by Frances Ridley 

Havergal. *' Will perpetuate her name." 

2 MY KING AND HIS SERVICE, OR DAILY 

THOUGHTS FOR THE KING'S CHILDREN, 

by Frances Ridley Havergal. " Simple, tender, gentle, 
and full of Christian love." 

3 MY POINT OF VIEW. Selections from the works of 

Professor Henry Drummond. 

4 OF THE IMITATION OF CHRIST, by Themas 

A'Kempis. ** With the exception of the Bible it is 
probably the book most read in Christian literature." 

5 ADDRESSES, by Professor Henry Drummond. " Intel- 

ligent sympathy with the Christian's need." 

6 NATURAL LAW IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, 

by Professor Henry Drummond. *'A most notable 
book which has earned for the author a world-wide 
reputation." 

7 ADDRESSES, by the Rev. Phillips Brooks. "Has 

exerted a marked influence over the rising generation." 

8 ABIDE IN CHRIST. Thoughts on the Blessed Life of 

Fellowship with the Son of God. By the Rev. Andrew 
Murray. It cannot fail to stimulate and cheer. — 
Sturgeon. 

9 LIKE CHRIST. Thoughts on the Blessed Life of Con- 

formity to the Son of God, By the Rev. Andrew 
Murray. A sequel to *' Abide in Christ." " May be 
read with comfort and edification by all." 

10 WITH CHRIST IN THE SCHOOL OF PRAYER, 

by the Rev. Andrew Murray. *' The best work on 
prayer in the language." 



HENRY ALTEMUS' PUBLICATIONS. 

IX HOLY IN CHRIST. Thoughts on the Calling of God's 
Children to be Holy as He is Holy. By the Rev. 
Andrew Murray. " This sacred theme is tteated Scrip- 
turally and robustly without spurious sentimentalism." 

12 THE MANLINESS OF CHRIST, by Thomas Hughes, 

author of ** Tom Brown's School Days," etc. ** Evi- 
dences of the sublimest courage and manliness in 
the boyhood, ministry, and in th» last acts of Christ's 
life." 

13 ADDRESSES TO YOUNG MEN, by the Rev. Henry 

Ward Beecher. Seven Addresses on common vices and 
their results. 

14 THE PATHWAY OF SAFETY, by the Rt. Rev. Ash- 

ton Oxenden, D.D. Sound words of advice and encour- 
agement on the text ** What must I do to be saved?" 

15 THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, by the Rt. Rev. Ashton 

Oxenden, D.D. A beautiful delineation of an ideal life 
from the conversion to the final reward. 

16 THE THRONE OF GRACE. Before which the bur- 

dened soul may cast itself on the bosom of infinite love 
and enjoy in prayer** a peace which passeth all und«r- 
standing." 

17 THE PATHWAY OF PROMISE, by the author of 

"The Throne of Grace." Thoughts consolatory and 
encouraging to the Christian pilgrim as he journeys 
onward to his heavenly home. 

18 THE IMPREGNABLE ROCK OF HOLY SCRIP- 

TURE, by the Rt. Hon. William Ewart Gladstone, 
M. P. The mo6t masterly defence of the truths of the 
Bible extant. The author says : The Christian Faith 
and the Holy Scriptures arm us with the means of neu- 
tralizing and repelling the assaults of evil in and from 
ourselves. 

19 STEPS INTO THE BLESSED LIFE, by the Rev. F. 

B. Meyer, B. A. A powerful help towards sanctifica- 
tion. 

20 THE MESSAGE OF PEACE, by the Rev. Richard W. 

Church, D. D. Eight excellent sermons on the advent 
of the Babe of Bethlehem and his influence and eflfect 
on the world. 

21 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK, by the Rev. Charles 

H. Spurgeon. 

22 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES, by the Rev. 

Charles H. Spurgeon. 

23 THE CHANGED CROSS; AND OTHER RE- 

LIGIOUS POEMS. 



ALTEMUS' ETERNAL LIFE SERIES. 



Selections from the v^ritings of well-known religious 

authors, beautifully printed and daintily bound 

with original designs in silver and ink. 

PRICE, 25 CENTS PER VOLUME. 



1 ETERNAL LIFE, by Professor Henry Drummond. 

2 LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY, by Rev. Andrew Murray. 

3 GOD'S WORD AND GOD'S WORK, by Martin Luther. 

4 FAITH, by Thomas Arnold. 

5 THE CREATION STORY, by Honorable William E. 

Gladstone. 

6 THE MESSAGE OF COMFORT, by Rt. Rev. Ashton 

Oxenden. 

7 THE MESSAGE OF PEACE, by Rev R. W. Church. 

8 THE LORD'S PRAYER AND THE TEN COM- 

MANDMENTS, by Dean Stanley. 
g THE MEMOIRS OF JESUS, by Rev. Robert F. Horton. 

10 HYMNS OF PRAISE AND GLADNESS, by Elisabeth 

R. Scovil. 

11 DIFFICULTIES, by Hannah Whitall Smith. 

12 GAMBLERS AND GAMBLING, by Rev. Henry Ward 

Beecher. 

13 HAVE FAITH IN GOD, by Rev. Andrew Murray. 

14 TWELVE CAUSES OF DISHONESTY, by Rev. Henry 

Ward Beecher. 

15 THE CHRIST IN WHOM CHRISTIANS BELIEVE, 

by Rt. Rev. Phillips Brooks. 

16 IN MY NAME, by Rev. Andrew Murray. 

17 SIX WARNINGS, by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. 

i8 THE DUTY OF THE CHRISTIAN BUSINESSMAN, 

by Rt. Rev. Phillips Brooks. 
ig POPULAR AMUSEMENTS, by Rev. Henry Ward 

Beecher. 

20 TRUE LIBERTY, by Rt. Rev Phillips Brooks. 

21 INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS, by Rev. Henry Ward 

Beecher. 

22 THE BEAUTY OF A LIFE OF SERVICE, by Rt. 

Rev. Phillips Brooks. 

23 THE SECOND COMING OF OUR LORD, by Rev. A. 

T. Pierson, D D. 

24 THOUGHT AND ACTION, by Rt. Rev. Phillips Brooks. 

25 THE HEAVENLY VISION, by Rev. F. B. Meyer. 
25 MORNING STRENGTH, by Elisabeth R. Scovil. 

27 FOR THE QUIET HOUR, by Edith V. Bradt. 

28 EVENING COMFORT, by Elisabeth R. Scovil. 

2g WORDS OF HELP FOR CHRISTIAN GIRLS, by 
Rev. F. B. Meyer. 

30 HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE, by Rev. Dwight L. 

Moody. 

31 EXPECTATION CORNER, by E. S. Elliot. 

^2 JESSICA'S FIRST*PRAYER, by Hesba Stratton. 



ALTEMUS' BELLES-LETTRES SERIES. 



collection of Essays and Addresses by eminent 
English and American Authors, beautifully 
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original designs in silver. 



PRICE, 25 CENTS PER VOLUME. 



1 INDEPENDENCE DAY, by Rev. Edward E. Hale. 

2 THE SCHOLAR IN POLITICS, by Hon. Richard OIney. 

3 THE YOUNG MAN IN BUSINESS, by Edward W. Bok. 

4 THE YOUNG MAN AND THE CHURCH, by Edward 

W. Bok. 

5 THE SPOILS SYSTEM, by Hon. Carl Schurz. 

6 CONVERSATION, by Thomas DeQuincey. 

7 SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, by Matthew Arnold. 

8 WORK, by John Ruskin. 

9 NATURE AND ART, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

10 THE USE AND MISUSE OF BOOKS, by Frederic 
Harrison. 

n THE MONROE DOCTRINE: ITS ORIGIN, MEAN- 
ING AND APPLICATION, by Prof. John Bach 
McMaster (Universit^^ of Pennsylvania). 

12 THE DESTINY OF MAN, by Sir John Lubbock. 

13 LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

14 RIP VAN WINKLE, by Washington Irving. 

15 ART, POETRY AND MUSIC, by Sir John Lubbock. 
i6 THE CHOICE OF BOOKS, by Sir John Lubbock. 

17 MANNERS, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

18 CHARACTER, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

19 THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, by Wash- 

ington Irving. 

20 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE, by Sir John Lubbock. 

21 SELF RELIANCE, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

22 THE DUTY OF HAPPINESS, by Sir John Lubbock. 

23 SPIRITUAL LAWS, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

24 OLD CHRISTMAS, by Washington Irving. 

25 HEALTH. WEALTH AND THE BLESSING OF 

FRIENDS, by Sir John Lubbock. 

26 INTELLECT, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

27 WHY AMERICANS DISLIKE ENGLAND, by Prof. 

Geo B Adams (Yale). 

28 THE HIGHER EDUCATION AS A TRAINING FOR 

BUSINESS, by Prof. Harry Pratt Judson (University 
of Chicago). 

29 MISS TOOSEY'S MISSION. 

30 LADDIE. 

31 J. COLE, by Emma Gellibrand. 



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ALTEMUS* NEW ILLUSTRATED 
VADEMECUM SERIES. 



Masterpieces of English and American I^iterature, Handy- 
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Contains Illuminated Title Pages, and Portrait 
of Author and Numerous Engravings 



Full Cloth, ivory finish, ornamental inlaid sides and^^back, 

boxed ... 40 

Full White Vellum, full silver and monotint, boxed .... 50 



1 CRANFORD, by Mrs. Gaskell. 

2 A WINDOW IN THRUMS, by J. M. Barrie. 



3 RAB AND HIS FRIENDS, MARJORIE FLEM- 

ING, ETC., fey John Brown, M. D. 

4 THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD, by Oliver Goldsmith. 

5 THE IDLETHOUGHTS OF AN IDLE FELLOW, 

by Jerome K. Jerome. ** A book for an idle holiday." 

6 TALES FROM SHAKSPEARE, by Charles and Mary 

Lamb, with an introduction by the Rev. Alfred Ainger, 
M. D. 

7 SESAME AND LILIES, by John Ruskin. 

Three Lectures — I. Of the King's Treasures, II. Of 
Queen's Garden. III. Of the Mystery of Life. 

8 THE ETHICS OF THE DUST,by John Ruskin. Ten 

lectures to little housewives on the elements ot crystali- 
zation. 

9 THE PLEASURES OF LIFE, by Sir John Lubbock. 

Complete in one volume. 

10 THE SCARLET LETTER, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. 

11 THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES, by 

Nathaniel Hawthorne. 

12 MOSSES FROM AN OLD MANSE, by Nathaniel 

Hawthorne. 



HENRY ALTEMUS' PUBLICATIONS. 



Altemus' New Illustrated Vademecum Series- 
continued. 



13 TWICE TOLD TALES, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. 



14 THE ESSAYS OF FRANCIS (LORD) BACON 

WITH MEMOIRS AND NOTES. 

15 ESSAYS, First Series, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

16 ESSAYS, Second Series, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

17 REPRESENTATIVE MEN, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

Mental portraits each representing a class. i. The 
Philosopher. 2. The Mystic, q. TheSteptic. 4. The 
Poet. 5. The Man of the World. 6. The VVriier. 

18 THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR MARCUS 

AURELIUS ANTONINUS, translated by George 
Long. 

19 THE DISCOURSES OF EPICTETUS WITH THE 

ENCHIRIDION, translated by George Long. 



20 OF THE IMITATION OF CHRIST, by Thomas 

A^Kempis. Four books complete in one volume. 

21 ADDRESSES, by Professor Henry Drummond. The 

(Greatest Thing in the World ; i^ax Vobiscum ; The 
Changed Life ; How to Learn How ; Dealing With 
Doubt ; Preparation for Learning ; What is a Chris- 
tian ; The Study of the Bible ; A Talk on Books. 

22 LETTERS, SENTENCES AND MAXIMS, by Lord 

Chesterfield. Masterpieces of good taste, good writing 
and good sense. 

23 REVERIES OF A BACHELOR. A book of the 

heart. By Ik Marvel. 

24 DREAM LIFE, by Ik Marvel. A companion to *' Reve- 

ries of a Bachelor." 

25 SARTOR RESARTUS, by Thomas Carlyle. 

26 HEROES AND HERO WORSHIP, by Thomas Car- 

lyle. 

27 UNCLE TOM'S CABIN, by Harriet Beecher Stowe. 

28 ESSAYS OF ELIA, by Charles Lamb. 



HENRY ALTEMUS^ PUBLICATIONS. 



Altemus' New Illustrated Vademecum Series — 
continued. 



2g MY POINT OF VIEW. Representative selections from 
the works of Professor Henry Drummond by William 
Shepard. 

30 THE SKETCH BOOK, by Washington Irving. Com- 

plete. 

31 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE, by Frances 

Ridley Havergal. 

32 LUCILE, by Owen Meredith. 

33 LALLA ROOKH, by Thomas Moore. 

34 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, by Sir Walter Scott. 

35 MARMION, by Sir Walter Scott. 

36 THE PRINCESS i AND MAUD, by Alfred (Lord) 

Tennyson. 

37 CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE, by Lord 

Byron. 

38 IDYLLS OF THE KING, by Alfred (Lord) Tennyson. 

39 EVANGELINE, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

40 VOICE'S OF THE NIGHT AND OTHER POEMS, 

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

41 THE QUEEN OF THE AIR, by John Ruskin. A 

study of the Greek myths of cloud and storm. 

4a THE BELFRY OF BRUGES AND OTHER 
POEMS, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

43 POEMS, Volume I, by John Greenleaf Whittier. 

44 POEMS, Volume II, by John Greenleaf Whittier. 



HENRY ALTEMUS* PUBLICATIONS. 



Altemus' New Illustrated Vademecum Series — 
continued. 



45 THE RAVEN; AND OTHER POEMS, by Edgar 

Allan Poe. 

46 THANATOPSIS;AND OTHER POEMS, by William 

Cullen Bryant. 

47 THE LAST LEAF;AND OTHER POEMS, by Oliver 

Wendell Holmes. 

48 THE HEROES OR GREEK FAIRY TALES, by 

Charles Kingsley. 

49 A WONDER BOOK, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. 



50 UNDINE, by de La Motte Fouque. 

51 ADDRESSES, by the Rt. Rev. Phillips Brooks. 

52 BALZAC'S SHORTER STORIES, by Honore de 

Balzac. 

53 TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST, by Richard 

H. Dana, Jr. 

54 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. An Autobiography. 

55 THE LAST ESSAYS OF ELIA, by Charles Lamb. 

56 TOM BROWN'S SCHOOL DAYS, by Thomas 

Hughes. 

57 WEIRD TALES, by Edgar Allan Poe. 

58 THE CROWN OF WILD OLIVE, by John Ruskin. 

Three lectures on Work, Traffic and War. 

59 NATURAL LAW IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, 

by Professor Henry Drummond. 

60 ABBE CONSTANTIN, by Ludovic Halevy. 

61 MANON LESCAUT, by Abbe Prevost. 



HENRY ALTEMUS' PUBLICATIONS. 



Altemus' New Illustrated Vademecum Series — 
continued. 



62 THE ROMANCE OF A POOR YOUNG MAN, by 

Octave Feuillet. 

63 BLACK BEAUTY, by Anna Sewell. 

64 CAMILLE, by Alexander Dumas, Jr. 

65 THE LIGHT OF ASIA, by Sir Edwin Arnold. 

65 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME, by Thomas 
Babington Macaulay. 

67 THE CONFESSIONS OF AN ENGLISH OPIUM- 

EATER, by Thomas De Quincey. 

68 TREASURE ISLAND, by Robert L. Stevenson. 

6g CARMEN, by Prosper Merimee. 

70 A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY, by Laurence Sterne. 

71 THE BLITHEDALE ROMANCE, by Nathaniel 

Hawthorne. 

72 BAB BALLADS, AND SAVOY SONGS, by W. H. 

Gilbert. 

73 FANCHON, THE CRICKET, by George Sand. 

74 POEMS, by James Russell Lowell. 

75 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK, by the Rev. Charles 

H. Spurgeon, 

76 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES, by the Rev. 

Charles H. Spurgeon. 

77 THE MANLINESS OF CHRIST, by Thomas 

Hughes. 

78 ADDRESSES TO YOUNG MEN, by the Rev. Henry 

Ward Beecher. 

79 THE AUTOCRAT OF THE BREAKFAST 

TABLE, by Oliver Wendell Holmes. 



HENRY ALTEMUS' PUBLICATIONS. 



Altemus' New Illustrated Vademecum Series- 
continued. 



80 MULVANEY STORIES, by Rudyard Kipling. 

81 BALLADS, by Rudyard Kipling. 

82 MORNING THOUGHTS, by Frances Ridley Havergal. 

83 TEN NIGHTS IN A BAR ROOM, by T. S. Arthur. 

84 EVENING THOUGHTS, by Frances Ridley Havergal. 

85 IN MEMORIAM, by Alfred (Lord) Tennyson. 

86 COMING TO CHRIST, by Frances Ridley Havergal. 

87 HOUSE OF THE WOLF, by Stanley Weyman. 



AMERICAN POLITICS (non-Partisan), by Hon. Thomas 
V. Cooper. A history of all the Political Parties with their 
views and records on all important questions. All political 
platforms from the beginning to date. Great Speeches on 
Great issues. Parliamentary Practice and tabulated history 
of chronological events. A library without this work is de- 
ficient. 8vo., 750 pages. Cloth, ^3 00. Full Sheep Library 
style, ^4.00. 

NAMES FOR CHILDREN, by Elisabeth Robinson Scovil, 
author of "The Care of Children," ** Preparation for 
Motherhood." In family life there is no question of greater 
weight or importance than naming the baby. The author 
gives much good advice and many suggestions on the sub- 
ject. Cloth, i2mo., $ .40. 

TRIF AND TRIXY,byJohn Habberton, author of ''Helen's 
Babies." The story is replete with vivid and spirited 
scenes; and is incomparably the happiest and most de- 
lightful work Mr. Habberton has yet written. Cloth, 
i2mo., $ .35. 



